Issue 20, 2024

Halogen-bonded charge-transfer co-crystal scintillators for high-resolution X-ray imaging

Abstract

The development of high-quality organic scintillators encounters challenges primarily associated with the weak X-ray absorption ability resulting from the presence of low atomic number elements. An effective strategy involves the incorporation of halogen-containing molecules into the system through co-crystal engineering. Herein, we synthesized a highly fluorescent dye, 2,5-di(4-pyridyl)thiazolo[5,4-d]thiazole (Py2TTz), with a fluorescence quantum yield of 12.09%. Subsequently, Py2TTz was co-crystallized with 1,4-diiodotetrafluorobenzene (I2F4B) and 1,3,5-trifluoro-2,4,6-triiodobenzene (I3F3B) obtaining Py2TTz–I2F4 and Py2TTz–I3F3. Among them, Py2TTz–I2F4 exhibited exceptional scintillation properties, including an ultrafast decay time (1.426 ns), a significant radiation luminescence intensity (146% higher than Bi3Ge4O12), and a low detection limit (70.49 nGy s−1), equivalent to 1/78th of the detection limit for medical applications (5.5 μGy s−1). This outstanding scintillation performance can be attributed to the formation of halogen-bonding between I2F4B and Py2TTz. Theoretical calculations and single-crystal structures demonstrate the formation of halogen-bond-induced rather than π–π-induced charge-transfer cocrystals, which not only enhances the X-ray absorption ability and material conductivity under X-ray exposure, but also constrains molecular vibration and rotation, and thereby reducing non-radiative transition rate and sharply increasing its fluorescence quantum yields. Based on this, the flexible X-ray film prepared based on Py2TTz–I2F4 achieved an ultrahigh spatial resolution of 26.8 lp per mm, underscoring the superiority of this strategy in developing high-performance organic scintillators.

Graphical abstract: Halogen-bonded charge-transfer co-crystal scintillators for high-resolution X-ray imaging

Associated articles

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
31 Jan 2024
Accepted
14 Apr 2024
First published
20 Apr 2024
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Chem. Sci., 2024,15, 7659-7666

Halogen-bonded charge-transfer co-crystal scintillators for high-resolution X-ray imaging

Y. Chen, G. Zhang, F. Chen, S. Zhang, X. Fang, H. Chen and M. Lin, Chem. Sci., 2024, 15, 7659 DOI: 10.1039/D4SC00735B

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