All‐Inorganic Perovskite Polymer–Ceramics for Flexible and Refreshable X‐Ray Imaging

• Published in: Advanced functional materials 2022-01, Vol.32 (2), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Chen, Weiqing, Zhou, Min, Liu, Yang, Yu, Xue, Pi, Chaojie, Yang, Ze, Zhang, Hao, Liu, Zhichao, Wang, Ting, Qiu, Jianbei, Yu, Siu Fung, Yang, Yang (Michael), Xu, Xuhui
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ceramics; cost‐effective radiography; flexible X‐ray imaging; Imaging; Materials science; Nanocrystals; Nucleation; Ostwald ripening; perovskite polymer films; Perovskites; Polymers; reproducible X‐ray imaging; Scintillation counters; scintillator; Spatial resolution
• ISSN: 1616-301X; 1616-3028
• DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202107424

Halide perovskites are an emerging scintillator material for X‐ray imaging. High‐quality X‐ray imaging generally requires high spatial resolution and long operation lifetime, especially for targeted objects with irregular shapes. Herein, a perovskite “polymer–ceramics” scintillator, in which the halide perovskite nanocrystals are grown inside a pre‐solidified polymer structure with high viscosity (6 × 1012 cP), is designed to construct flexible and refreshable X‐ray imaging. A nucleation inhibition strategy is proposed to prevent the agglomeration and Ostwald ripening of perovskite crystals during the subsequent precipitation process, enabling a high‐quality polymer–ceramics scintillator with high transparency. This scintillator‐based detector achieves a detection limit of 120 nGy s–1 and a spatial resolution of 12.5 lp mm–1. Interestingly, due to the anchoring effect of the exfoliated atoms provided by the polymer matrix, the scintillator film can be refreshed after a long duration (≥3 h) and high dose (8 mGy s–1) irradiation. More importantly, this inherent characteristic overcomes the long operation lifetime issue of perovskites‐based scintillators. Hence, the authors’ exploration of the polymer–ceramics scintillator paves the way for the development of flexible and durable perovskite scintillators that can be produced at a low operation cost. X‐ray imaging achieves for high spatial resolution and long operation lifetime. Herein, a perovskite “polymer–ceramics” scintillator, where the halide perovskite nanocrystals are precipitated in situ from a pre‐solidified polymer matrix, is designed to construct flexible and refreshable X‐ray images, especially for non‐flat targets.