Ligand Engineering for Ultrahigh-Light-Yield Lanthanide Complex Scintillators
14 affiliations
- 1Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Luminescence from Molecular Aggregates
- 2South China University of Technology
- 3MOE Key Laboratory of Laser Life Science & Institute of Laser Life Science, College of Biophotonics, School of Optoelectronic Science and Engineering
- 4South China Normal University
- 5School of Optoelectronic Science and Engineering
- 6College of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering
- 7Shenzhen University
- 8Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Information Photonics Technology
- 9Guangdong University of Technology
- 10Clinical Laboratory Medicine Department
- 11Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University
- 12Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Optical Information Materials and Technology
- 13School of Science and Engineering
- 14Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen
Abstract
Scintillators featuring high light yield and low detection limit are critically important for high-energy radiation detection. Lanthanide complexes are attractive candidates due to their strong X-ray absorption, facile synthesis, and high photostability. However, their practical application has long been hindered by relatively low light yield. Here, we show that ligand engineering is a general and effective strategy for realizing lanthanide complex scintillators with ultrahigh light yield. By precisely tuning the π-conjugation extent of the β-diketone ligands across a rationally designed series of Tb(β-diketone)3·2H2O complexes, we identify Tb(acac)3·2H2O as an exceptional scintillator, whose exciton utilization efficiency is near-unity (99.3%). Under X-ray excitation, polycrystalline Tb(acac)3·2H2O delivers a light yield of 134,400 photons/MeV, which further increases to an unprecedented 180,000 photons/MeV in its single-crystal form. Ultrafast spectroscopic investigations directly reveal the underlying energy transfer mechanism of lanthanide complexes, highlighting the decisive role of the energy gap between ligand triplet states and lanthanide excited states, and establishing a broadly applicable ligand-engineering design principle for developing highly efficient lanthanide complex scintillators. We further demonstrate the practical utility of ultrahigh-light-yield Tb(acac)3·2H2O in X-ray intensifying screens, enabling at least a fivefold reduction in irradiation time compared with radiography performed without an intensifying screen. Overall, these results establish ligand engineering as a powerful paradigm for molecular scintillator design and open new opportunities for advanced radiation detection and imaging technologies.
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BibTeX
@misc{zhang2026ligand,
title = {{Ligand Engineering for Ultrahigh-Light-Yield Lanthanide Complex Scintillators}},
author = {Kaiwei Zhang and Longfei Song and Xin Qiu and Wei Wei and Lin Ma and Tianxing Ji and Xiangyu Peng and Zichen Li and Wei Li and Yihan Zhang and Daming Zhou and Qiuqiang Zhan and Tingchao He and Anjun Qin and Ben Zhong Tang},
howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15010010/v1},
url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010010/v1},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Ligand Engineering for Ultrahigh-Light-Yield Lanthanide Complex Scintillators
AU - Kaiwei Zhang
AU - Longfei Song
AU - Xin Qiu
AU - Wei Wei
AU - Lin Ma
AU - Tianxing Ji
AU - Xiangyu Peng
AU - Zichen Li
AU - Wei Li
AU - Yihan Zhang
AU - Daming Zhou
AU - Qiuqiang Zhan
AU - Tingchao He
AU - Anjun Qin
AU - Ben Zhong Tang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/06
PB - ChemRxiv
DO - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15010010/v1
UR - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010010/v1
AB - Scintillators featuring high light yield and low detection limit are critically important for high-energy radiation detection. Lanthanide complexes are attractive candidates due to their strong X-ray absorption, facile synthesis, and high photostability. However, their practical application has long been hindered by relatively low light yield. Here, we show that ligand engineering is a general and effective strategy for realizing lanthanide complex scintillators with ultrahigh light yield. By precisely tuning the π-conjugation extent of the β-diketone ligands across a rationally designed series of Tb(β-diketone)3·2H2O complexes, we identify Tb(acac)3·2H2O as an exceptional scintillator, whose exciton utilization efficiency is near-unity (99.3%). Under X-ray excitation, polycrystalline Tb(acac)3·2H2O delivers a light yield of 134,400 photons/MeV, which further increases to an unprecedented 180,000 photons/MeV in its single-crystal form. Ultrafast spectroscopic investigations directly reveal the underlying energy transfer mechanism of lanthanide complexes, highlighting the decisive role of the energy gap between ligand triplet states and lanthanide excited states, and establishing a broadly applicable ligand-engineering design principle for developing highly efficient lanthanide complex scintillators. We further demonstrate the practical utility of ultrahigh-light-yield Tb(acac)3·2H2O in X-ray intensifying screens, enabling at least a fivefold reduction in irradiation time compared with radiography performed without an intensifying screen. Overall, these results establish ligand engineering as a powerful paradigm for molecular scintillator design and open new opportunities for advanced radiation detection and imaging technologies.
ER -