We report, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, the luminescent properties of Tb 3+ and Eu 3+ doped Zn 2 SiO 4 phosphors prepared by a sol–gel process. The phosphors have shown prominent luminescence in green and red, respectively, due to the electronic transitions of 5 D 0 → 7 F 2 (Eu 3+ ) and 5 D 4 → 7 F 5 (Tb 3+ ). Structural characterization of these luminescent materials was carried out with XRD and TEM. Luminescence spectra were analyzed by measuring the excitation, photoluminescence spectra and lifetimes of the emission transitions of Eu 3+ ( 5 D 0 → 7 F J , J =1–5) and Tb 3+ ( 5 D 4 → 7 F J , J =1–6). Our experimental results have shown that these phosphors have comparable luminescence properties as those currently used in TVs and CRTs.