The unique optical property of Eu3+ trapped in a host material makes it very important in applications such as phosphors. SBA-15, a mesoporous silica material with uniform mesopores, high surface area, good thermal and chemical stability, can be a potential host. In some applications, fine control over the locations of the doped Eu3+ is desired. In this study, Eu3+ was doped inside the pores of SBA-15. The external surface of the as-synthesized SBA-15 was selectively passivated through reactions with inert functional phenyl groups. The external-surface-modified SBA-15 silica was doped with Eu3+ via two possible pathways, one is ion exchange process, during which protonated triblock copolymer P123 was replaced by the Eu3+ ions; the other one is physical adsorption. XRD, MAS-NMR, EDX, TEM, physical adsorption, and photoluminescence-analytic techniques were used to characterize the materials. The approach described in this paper provides an easy method for doping of Eu3+ inside the pores of a porous host material. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.