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   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Scintillating science: Researchers improve materials for radiation   
   detection and imaging technology    
      
     Date:   
         May 8, 2023   
     Source:   
         Florida State University   
     Summary:   
         A team of researchers has improved a new generation of   
         organic-inorganic hybrid materials that can improve image quality   
         in X-ray machines, CT scans and other radiation detection and   
         imaging technologies.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
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   A team of Florida State University researchers has further developed a   
   new generation of organic-inorganic hybrid materials that can improve   
   image quality in X-ray machines, CT scans and other radiation detection   
   and imaging technologies.   
      
   Professor Biwu Ma from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and   
   his colleagues have developed a new class of materials that can act as   
   highly efficient scintillators, which emit light after being exposed to   
   other forms of high energy radiations, such as X-rays.   
      
   The team's most recent study, published in Advanced Materials,   
   is an improvement upon their previous research to develop better   
   scintillators. The new design concept produces materials that can emit   
   light within nanoseconds, orders of magnitude faster than previously   
   developed materials, allowing for better imaging.   
      
   "Reducing the radioluminescence decay lifetime of scintillators to   
   nanoseconds is an important breakthrough," Ma said. "Using a hybrid   
   material made up of both organic and inorganic components means   
   each component can be used for the part of the process where it   
   is most effective."  Scintillators are used in all sorts of imaging   
   applications. Health care settings, security X-rays, radiation detectors   
   and other technologies use them and would benefit from better image   
   quality.   
      
   The new generation of organic metal halide hybrid scintillators developed   
   by Ma's team has numerous improvements over existing ones. In addition   
   to significantly better radioluminescence response, the manufacturing   
   process is simpler than the process used for other scintillators, and   
   it uses abundant and cheap materials.   
      
   Think of a scintillator as a sort of translator between two types of   
   energy, taking a form of high energy radiation, such as an X-ray, and   
   converting it into visible light. Less radiation passes through denser   
   parts of an object, and that difference can be used to distinguish   
   higher-density objects, such as bones or metal, from lower-density ones,   
   such as soft tissue. The radiation that passes through an object then   
   interacts with the scintillator, which generates visible light that is   
   detected by a sensor to make an image.   
      
   Today's scintillators use mainly inorganic materials to transform high   
   energy radiation into visible light for producing images. These materials   
   are rigid, use rare Earth elements, and require energy-consuming,   
   high-temperature manufacturing processes.   
      
   Ma and his team have been working on zero-dimensional organic metal   
   halide hybrids, with which they have performed pioneering research   
   since 2018. These organic-inorganic hybrids are made of small groups of   
   negatively charged inorganic components, called metal halide clusters,   
   and positively charged organic molecules. They're "zero-dimensional" at   
   the molecular level because the metal halide clusters are fully isolated   
   and surrounded by organic molecules.   
      
   In the first version of scintillators based on this material, the metal   
   halides absorb high energy radiation and emit visible light. In this   
   latest iteration, metal halide components and organic molecules work   
   together. The metal halides absorb high energy radiation and transfer   
   energy to the organic components, which emit visible light.   
      
   Light emissions from organic molecules take place on the scale of   
   nanoseconds, much faster than the microseconds or milliseconds required   
   for metal halides to emit light.   
      
   "The faster the decay of radioluminescence, the more precise we can   
   measure the timing of photon emissions," Ma said. "That leads to higher   
   resolution and contrast in images."  With the help of the FSU Office   
   of Commercialization, Ma and his team have filed patents on organic   
   metal halide hybrid scintillators. The office's GAP Commercialization   
   Investment Program provided funding to develop the technology for   
   potential partnerships with private companies, which would make the   
   scintillators available on a wider scale.   
      
   "This is a continuation of our push for better materials over the years,   
   from 2018, when we first discovered this class of materials, to 2020,   
   when we used them for scintillation for the first time," Ma said. "This   
   is another major breakthrough."  This study was supported by the National   
   Science Foundation and Florida State University.   
      
   This paper's first author was FSU graduate student Tunde Blessed   
   Shonde. Other co-authors were Maya Chaaban, He Liu, Oluwadara Joshua   
   Olasupo, Azza Ben- Akacha, Fabiola G. Gonzalez, Kerri Julevich, Xinsong   
   Lin, J. S. Raaj Vellore Winfred, all from FSU, and Luis M. Stand and   
   Mariya Zhuravleva from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.   
      
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   Story Source: Materials provided by Florida_State_University. Original   
   written by Bill Wellock. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
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   Journal Reference:   
      1. Tunde Blessed Shonde, Maya Chaaban, He Liu, Oluwadara Joshua   
      Olasupo,   
         Azza Ben‐Akacha, Fabiola G. Gonzalez, Kerri Julevich, Xinsong   
         Lin, J. S. Raaj Vellore Winfred, Luis M. Stand, Mariya Zhuravleva,   
         Biwu Ma.   
      
         Molecular Sensitization Enabled High Performance Organic Metal   
         Halide Hybrid Scintillator. Advanced Materials, 2023; DOI: 10.1002/   
         adma.202301612   
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   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230508150929.htm   
      
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