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

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 x 10(12) 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.

Automated summary

A novel perovskite polymer-ceramics scintillator with high transparency and quality is designed for flexible and refreshable X-ray imaging, achieved through a nucleation inhibition strategy. This scintillator-based detector boasts a high detection limit and spatial resolution, overcoming the long operation lifetime issue of perovskites-based scintillators.