Efficient 2,3-dihydroxybutanedioic acid-modified water-soluble YVO4: Eu3+ red nanoparticles were synthesized by a novel hydrothermal process. Results showed that the YVO4: Eu3+ nanoparticles had the advantages of easy preparation, low cost, good luminescent properties, good single dispersion, low toxicity, and uniform particle size distribution. The fluorescence intensity of the YVO4: Eu3+ nanoparticles could be irreversibly quenched by crystal violet, and the fluorescence quenching degree and crystal violet concentration showed a good linear relationship within the range of 0.3-12 mu mol L-1. The correlation coefficient and detection limit were 0.9987 and 83 nmol L-1, respectively. The method was successfully used to analyze real samples, and standard recovery was from 97.9% to 103.0%. Therefore, a fluorescence resonance energy-transfer system could be established using YVO4: Eu3+ nanoparticles as the donor and crystal violet as the acceptor.