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Abstract The mixing of donor and acceptor molecules in fluorescent nanoparticles offers an effective route to adjusting the emission properties of the nanoparticles. In this work, the electron donor 1,1-bis[(di-4-tolylamino)phenyl]cyclohexane (TAPC) and the electron acceptor 2,4-bis[4-(diphenylphosphinyl)phenyl]-6-[4-(hexyloxy)phenyl]-1,3,5-triazine (BPOTZ-OR) were coprecipitated to form fluorescent nanoparticles. Efficient exciplex emission occurred in the nanoparticles owing to the good electron affinity and appropriate stacking distance between TAPC and BPOTZ-OR. The exciplex emission and monomer emission were easily tuned by simply changing the BPOTZ-OR/TAPC molar ratio. An appropriate combination produced white-light emission. The large red-shift of the emission from the exciplex, good stability under physiological conditions, and low toxicity suggest potential for this kind of nanoparticle to be an effective fluorescent probe for cell imaging. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • Exciplex emission nanoparticles upon appropriate stacking distance were prepared. • Multicolor emission can be obtained by adjusting the donor-acceptor molar ratio. • The exciplex nanoparticles showed excellent performance in live cell imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]