Volume 64, Issue 24 e202503457
Communication

Short Lifetime Radical Metal Cluster Scintillator

Jia-Wang Yuan

Jia-Wang Yuan

Tianjian Laboratory of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, Henan Key Laboratory of Crystalline Molecular Functional Materials, Key Laboratory of Special Functional Molecular Materials, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001 China

Both authors contributed equally to this work.

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Qiu-Chen Peng

Qiu-Chen Peng

Tianjian Laboratory of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, Henan Key Laboratory of Crystalline Molecular Functional Materials, Key Laboratory of Special Functional Molecular Materials, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001 China

Both authors contributed equally to this work.

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Ruo-Yu Cao

Ruo-Yu Cao

Tianjian Laboratory of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, Henan Key Laboratory of Crystalline Molecular Functional Materials, Key Laboratory of Special Functional Molecular Materials, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001 China

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Qi Yang

Qi Yang

Tianjian Laboratory of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, Henan Key Laboratory of Crystalline Molecular Functional Materials, Key Laboratory of Special Functional Molecular Materials, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001 China

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Ying-Ying Lei

Ying-Ying Lei

Tianjian Laboratory of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, Henan Key Laboratory of Crystalline Molecular Functional Materials, Key Laboratory of Special Functional Molecular Materials, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001 China

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Zi-Ying Gao

Zi-Ying Gao

Tianjian Laboratory of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, Henan Key Laboratory of Crystalline Molecular Functional Materials, Key Laboratory of Special Functional Molecular Materials, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001 China

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Zhao-Yang Wang

Zhao-Yang Wang

Tianjian Laboratory of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, Henan Key Laboratory of Crystalline Molecular Functional Materials, Key Laboratory of Special Functional Molecular Materials, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001 China

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Kai Li

Corresponding Author

Kai Li

Tianjian Laboratory of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, Henan Key Laboratory of Crystalline Molecular Functional Materials, Key Laboratory of Special Functional Molecular Materials, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001 China

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

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Shuang-Quan Zang

Corresponding Author

Shuang-Quan Zang

Tianjian Laboratory of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, Henan Key Laboratory of Crystalline Molecular Functional Materials, Key Laboratory of Special Functional Molecular Materials, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001 China

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

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First published: 03 April 2025

Graphical Abstract

The first luminescence radical cluster was constructed with open-shell luminescent radical ligands. The spin-allowed doublet emission endows it with 100% exciton utilization and a short radiation decay lifetime on the nanosecond scale, making it suitable for high-resolution X-ray imaging without residual images.

Abstract

Metal clusters, an emerging class of scintillator materials, have attracted much attention owing to their inherently high X-ray absorption, mild synthesis conditions, low toxicity, strong luminescence, and large Stokes shift. However, the decay lifetime of metal clusters is usually on the order of microseconds, which is unfavorable for safety inspection, nondestructive testing, and medical imaging. Here, the open-shell luminescent radical ligand was used to construct the first radical cluster scintillator Cu2I2(L)4. The spin-allowed doublet emission of Cu2I2(L)4 theoretically enabled 100% exciton utilization and exhibited a short radiation decay lifetime on the nanosecond scale. Cu2I2(L)4 can be fabricated into a flexible scintillator screen for X-ray imaging, achieving a high resolution of 30.7 LP mm−1. More importantly, the Cu2I2(L)4 scintillator screen has no residual images during X-ray imaging. This work reports the first luminescent metal cluster with a radical ligand and presents a new strategy for constructing short lifetime X-ray scintillators.

Conflict of Interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study, including experimental methods, characterization data, Figures S1–S27, and Tables S1–S5 are available in the Supporting Information of this article.

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