Interparticle energy transfer between NaNdF4 and NaYbF4 in self-assembled nanostructures

Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) is a widely used spectroscopic technique. The development of donor–acceptor combinations is essential to advance this technique. To make the energy transfer efficiency independent of the external environment, we explored the potential of constructing donor–acceptor combinations with lanthanide ion-doped nanoparticles (LNPs), in which the 4f electrons of the lanthanide ions are shielded by the 5s and 6p electrons. Non-radiative energy transfer between LNPs was demonstrated in self-assembled nanostructures and core–shell structure of LNPs was used to control the distance between donor and acceptor in self-assembled nanostructures. The emission intensity ratio of donor and acceptor illustrates that the energy transfer efficiency decreases significantly with increasing distance and the effective energy transfer distance is 8.5 nm, showing the potential of using LNPs as donor–acceptor pairs in the construction of distance-dependent energy transfer system.