Highly Efficient Flexible Antimony Halide Scintillator Films with In Situ Preparation for High-Resolution X-Ray Imaging

Flexible scintillators with high light yield, spatial resolution and low light scattering are ideal for X-ray imaging application. However, conventional scintillators are always prepared by crystallization of functional layer, grinding and mixing with polymers, resulting in serious light scattering. Herein, an in situ fabrication strategy is proposed to prepare a low light scattering flexible scintillator film based on 0D antimony halide C₃₈H₃₆P₂SbCl₅ (MTP₂SbCl₅). The prepared scintillator film exhibits bright yellow emission with an outstanding photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of 99.69%, and it demonstrates linear responsiveness to X-ray dose, achieving an impressive light yield of 39800 photons MeV⁻¹ and a low detection limitation of 78.4 nGy_air s⁻¹. The scintillator film possesses strong radiation hardness and stability. In addition, low light scattering greatly inhibits optical crosstalk during X-ray detection, effectively improving the spatial resolution of MTP₂SbCl₅ film from 4.5 to 10.2 lp mm⁻¹. On account of the simple preparation method and high performance, this work provides guidance for the preparation of high-efficiency, large-area, low-scattering and high-resolution flexible scintillator in the future.