Hydrothermal reactions of Sm2O3, Gd(ClO4)3 · 6H2O and Tb(ClO4)3 · 6H2O with nitrilotriacetic acid, give rise to three lanthanide coordination polymers, {[Sm(NTA)(H2O)2] · H2O}n (1), {[Gd(NTA)(H2O)] · H2O}n (2) and {[Tb(NTA)(H2O)] · H2O}n (3). Their solid-state structures have been characterized by elemental analysis, and IR spectroscopy. X-ray single-crystal diffraction analyses indicated that 2 and 3 are isomorphous three-dimensional coordination polymers with eight-coordinate Gd(III) (or Tb(III)), while 1 forms a two-dimensional coordination polymer containing nine-coordinate Sm(III). The photophysical properties of 3 have been studied with excitation and emission spectra, which exhibit strong green emission.