Dual-Function Organic Emitters for Plastic Scintillators Enabled by Integration of Photocatalytic Controlled Radical Polymerization and Sensitive X-Ray Detection
6 affiliations
- 1Department Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Aggregate Science, School of Science and Engineering
- 2Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen
- 3School of Materials Science and Engineering
- 4Zhengzhou University
- 5Nankai University
- 6Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, China
Abstract
Organic scintillators are attractive for X-ray detection and imaging because of their solution processability and compatibility with large-area fabrication. However, their development is limited by the trade-off between X-ray attenuation and photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY), as well as by the lack of mild fabrication methods for plastic scintillator screens. Herein, we report a brominated donoracceptor–donor molecular platform with hybridized local and charge-transfer (HLCT) character that addresses both challenges. Peripheral bromination of a benzo[c][1,2,5]oxadiazole-based scaffold produces a pronounced anti-heavy-atom effect, simultaneously enhancing X-ray attenuation and PLQY. This strategy is extended through chalcogen substitution to afford BOTBr, BTTBr, and BSeTBr, among which BTTBr shows the best overall performance, delivering a PLQY of 77%, a light yield of 37,851 photons MeV-1, and a detection limit of 54 nGy s-1. Notably, BTTBr also acts as a photocatalyst for photoinitiated atom transfer radical polymerization (PhotoATRP), enabling the in situ fabrication of transparent and uniform poly(methyl methacrylate) scintillator screens under mild conditions. The resulting screens afford high-resolution X-ray imaging with a spatial resolution of 13.2 lp mm-1. This work establishes an anti-heavy-atom-effect strategy for dual-functional scintillatorphotocatalyst materials and provides a light-driven route to integrated plasticscintillator fabrication.
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BibTeX
@misc{chen2026dualfunction,
title = {{Dual-Function Organic Emitters for Plastic Scintillators Enabled by Integration of Photocatalytic Controlled Radical Polymerization and Sensitive X-Ray Detection}},
author = {Hong Chen and Guangli He and Ziyu Cui and Guiyi Yang and Shibo Cheng and Huilin Xie and Wenjie Zhang and Xinchang Pang and Ben Zhong Tang and Jianquan Zhang},
howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15011119/v1},
url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15011119/v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Dual-Function Organic Emitters for Plastic Scintillators Enabled by Integration of Photocatalytic Controlled Radical Polymerization and Sensitive X-Ray Detection
AU - Hong Chen
AU - Guangli He
AU - Ziyu Cui
AU - Guiyi Yang
AU - Shibo Cheng
AU - Huilin Xie
AU - Wenjie Zhang
AU - Xinchang Pang
AU - Ben Zhong Tang
AU - Jianquan Zhang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/27
PB - ChemRxiv
DO - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15011119/v1
UR - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15011119/v1
AB - Organic scintillators are attractive for X-ray detection and imaging because of their solution processability and compatibility with large-area fabrication. However, their development is limited by the trade-off between X-ray attenuation and photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY), as well as by the lack of mild fabrication methods for plastic scintillator screens. Herein, we report a brominated donoracceptor–donor molecular platform with hybridized local and charge-transfer (HLCT) character that addresses both challenges. Peripheral bromination of a benzo[c][1,2,5]oxadiazole-based scaffold produces a pronounced anti-heavy-atom effect, simultaneously enhancing X-ray attenuation and PLQY. This strategy is extended through chalcogen substitution to afford BOTBr, BTTBr, and BSeTBr, among which BTTBr shows the best overall performance, delivering a PLQY of 77%, a light yield of 37,851 photons MeV-1, and a detection limit of 54 nGy s-1. Notably, BTTBr also acts as a photocatalyst for photoinitiated atom transfer radical polymerization (PhotoATRP), enabling the in situ fabrication of transparent and uniform poly(methyl methacrylate) scintillator screens under mild conditions. The resulting screens afford high-resolution X-ray imaging with a spatial resolution of 13.2 lp mm-1. This work establishes an anti-heavy-atom-effect strategy for dual-functional scintillatorphotocatalyst materials and provides a light-driven route to integrated plasticscintillator fabrication.
ER -