Molecule design enabled high efficiency flexible zirconium-based lead-free perovskite scintillator

Metal halide perovskites are the most promising candidates in the field of X-ray detection and imaging. However, the self-absorption and toxicity of lead-based perovskites severely limit their widespread application. Herein, zirconium-based halide perovskites have attracted much attention due to their excellent stability, low toxicity, and suitable bandgap, self-free absorption, wide emission spectrum. In this work, (C8H20N)2ZrCl6 single crystals are synthesized by evaporation crystallization, which presents a large Stokes shift of 203 nm, a high PLQY of 80.77%, and good stability over 180 days. Then, the assembled (C8H20N)2ZrCl6@PDMS films show good flexibility (bending and stretching) and a spatial resolution of 5.8 lp/mm. Thus, this work not only provides a route to explore lead-free metal halide perovskites with broadband emission but also demonstrates flexible zirconium-based scintillators for X-ray scintillation imaging.