Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Coinage Metal Cluster Scintillator

Abstract

X-ray scintillators are widely used in medical imaging, industrial flaw detection, security inspection, and space exploration. However, traditional commercial scintillators are usually associated with a high use cost because of their substantial toxicity and easy deliquescence. In this work, an atomically precise Au-Cu cluster scintillator (<b>1</b>) with a thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) property was facilely synthesized, which is environmentally friendly and highly stable to water and oxygen. The TADF property of <b>1</b> endows it with an ultrahigh exciton utilization rate. Combined with the effective absorption of X-ray caused by the heavy-atom effect and a limited nonradiative transition caused by close packing in the crystal state, <b>1</b> exhibits an excellent radioluminescence property. Moreover, <b>1</b> has good processability for fabricating a large, flexible thin-film device (10 cm × 10 cm) for high-resolution X-ray imaging, which can reach 40 μm (12.5 LP mm^-1). The properties mentioned earlier make the coinage metal cluster promising for use as a substitute for traditional commercial scintillators.