A novel Fe3O4@C/YVO4:Sm3+ composites with magnetic and luminescent properties were reported. Firstly, the as-synthesized Fe3O4 nanoparticles were coated by carbon as a shell via a simple hydrothermal method. Furthermore, the Fe3O4@C nanoparticles were modified by YVO4:Sm3+ phosphors through a simple sol-gel process to prepared the Fe3O4@C/YVO4:Sm3+ microspheres. The characterization of as-prepared products were measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), photoluminescence (PL) spectra, and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). It is shown that Fe3O4@C/YVO4:Sm3+ composites with well-crystallized and core-shell structure were prepared. Additionally, the Fe3O4@C/YVO4:Sm3+ composites show excellent magnetic properties (13 emu/g) and luminescent properties, which made the composites useful for applications in biomedical devices such as magnetic bin-separation and drug/gene delivery. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.