Harnessing self-sensitized scintillation by supramolecular engineering of CsPbBr3 nanocrystals in dense mesoporous template nanospheres

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel supramolecular engineering approach to organize CsPbBr3 nanocrystals within mesoporous silica spheres, significantly boosting their scintillation efficiency for radiation detection applications.

Contribution

The study introduces a new architecture of densely packed nanocrystals in mesospheres that enhances scintillation performance beyond traditional colloidal nanocrystals.

Findings

Up to 40-fold increase in radioluminescence intensity.

Improved secondary charge retention and conversion.

Potential for advanced radiation detection technologies.

Abstract

Perovskite-based nanoscintillators, such as CsPbBr3 nanocrystals (NCs), are emerging as promising candidates for ionizing radiation detection, thanks to their high emission efficiency, rapid response, and facile synthesis. However, their nanoscale dimensions - smaller than the mean free path of secondary carriers - and relatively low emitter density per unit volume, limited by their high molecular weight and reabsorption losses, restrict efficient secondary carrier conversion and hamper their practical deployment. In this work, we introduce a strategy to enhance scintillation performance by organizing NCs into densely packed domains within porous SiO2 mesospheres (MSNs). This engineered architecture achieves up to a 40-fold increase in radioluminescence intensity compared to colloidal NCs, driven by improved retention and conversion of secondary charges, as corroborated by electron release measurements. This approach offers a promising pathway toward developing next-generation nanoscintillators with enhanced performance, with potential applications in high-energy physics, medical imaging, and space technologies.