Frontiers in Chemistry (Oct 2022)

High-resolution flexible X-ray luminescence imaging enabled by eco-friendly CuI scintillators

  • Zhongzhu Hong,
  • Peifu Luo,
  • Tingting Wu,
  • Qinxia Wu,
  • Xiaoling Chen,
  • Zhijian Yang,
  • Shuheng Dai,
  • Hao Jiang,
  • Qihao Chen,
  • Qiang Sun,
  • Lili Xie

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fchem.2022.1052574
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10

Abstract

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Solution-processed scintillators hold great promise in fabrication of low-cost X-ray detectors. However, state of the art of these scintillators is still challenging in their environmental toxicity and instability. In this study, we develop a class of tetradecagonal CuI microcrystals as highly stable, eco-friendly, and low-cost scintillators that exhibit intense radioluminescence under X-ray irradiation. The red broadband emission is attributed to the recombination of self-trapped excitons in CuI microcrystals. We demonstrate the incorporation of such CuI microscintillator into a flexible polymer to fabricate an X-ray detector for high-resolution imaging with a spatial resolution up to 20 line pairs per millimeter (lp mm−1), which enables sharp image effects by attaching the flexible imaging detectors onto curved object surfaces.

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