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Highly luminescent zero-dimensional lead-free manganese halides for β-ray scintillation

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Abstract

Because of their moderate penetration power, β-rays (high-energy electrons) are a useful signal for evaluating the surface contamination of nuclear radiation. However, the development of β-ray scintillators, which convert the absorbed high-energy electrons into visible photons, is hindered by the limitations of materials selection. Herein, we report two highly luminescent zero-dimensional (0D) organic—inorganic lead-free metal halide hybrids, (C13H30N)2MnBr4 and (C19H34N)2MnBr4, as scintillators exhibiting efficient β-ray scintillation. These hybrid scintillators combine the superior properties of organic and inorganic components. For example, organic components that contain light elements C, H, and N enhance the capturing efficiency of β particles; isolated inorganic [MnBr4]2− tetrahedrons serve as highly localized emitting centers to emit intense radioluminescence (RL) under β-ray excitation. Both hybrids show a narrow-band green emission peaked at 518 nm with photoluminescence quantum efficiencies (PLQEs) of 81.3% for (C13H30N)2MnBr4 and 86.4% for (C19H34N)2MnBr4, respectively. To enable the solution processing of this promising metal halide hybrid, we successfully synthesized (C13H30N)2MnBr4 colloidal nanocrystals for the first time. Being excited by β-rays, (C13H30N)2MnBr4 scintillators show a linear response to β-ray dose rate over a broad range from 400 to 2,800 Gy·s−1, and also display robust radiation resistance that 80% of the initial RL intensity can be maintained after an ultrahigh accumulated radiation dose of 240 kGy. This work will open up a new route for the development of β-ray scintillators.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 61974052, 11774239, and 61827815), the Fund from Science, Technology and Innovation Commission of Shenzhen Municipality (No. JCYJ20190809180013252), and the Key Research and Development Program of Hubei Province (No. YFXM2020000188). The authors thank the Analytical and Testing Center of Huazhong University of Science and Technology for the help on measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Optical and Electronic Information, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Linyuan Lian, Hao Tian, Daoli Zhang & Jianbing Zhang

  2. Hubei Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic Chemistry & Materia Medica, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Wei Qi & Qi Ye

  3. Key Laboratory of Yunnan Provincial Higher Education Institutions for Optoelectronics Device Engineering, School of Physics and Astronomy, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650504, China

    Huaiyi Ding & Yong-Biao Zhao

  4. State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Engineering and Technology, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Long Zhao

  5. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ultrafast Photophysics of Quantum Devices Laboratory, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, 29634, USA

    Jianbo Gao

  6. Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Daoli Zhang & Jianbing Zhang

  7. Shenzhen Huazhong University of Science and Technology Research Institute, Shenzhen, 518057, China

    Jianbing Zhang

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  1. Linyuan Lian
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  2. Wei Qi
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  7. Long Zhao
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  8. Jianbo Gao
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  9. Daoli Zhang
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  10. Jianbing Zhang
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Correspondence to Wei Qi or Jianbing Zhang.

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Lian, L., Qi, W., Ding, H. et al. Highly luminescent zero-dimensional lead-free manganese halides for β-ray scintillation. Nano Res. 15, 8486–8492 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4447-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4447-7

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