Synergistic Hydrogen Bond Regulation and Mn2+ Doping Enhance the Scintillation Performance of 2D Dion–Jacobson Hybrid Lead Halides

Abstract

Scintillators with the capacity to convert X-rays into visible photons have attracted considerable attention from industrial inspection and medical diagnostics. Organic–inorganic hybrid (OIH) materials with programmable structures and tunable luminescence have emerged as ideal platforms for fabricating novel scintillators. However, it remains challenging to simultaneously achieve an exceptional light yield (LY) and high stability. Herein, by incorporating a suitable amount of Mn2+ ions into a 2D Dion–Jacobson (DJ)-phase OIH [(H2dapo)(PbCl4)]n (H2dapo2+ = 1,3-diaminium-2-hydroxypropane) (1), a novel Pb–Mn heterometallic OIH-based scintillator [(H2dapo)(PbCl4)]n:1.4%Mn (2) is synthesized. The synergistic effect between multihydrogen bond regulation and Mn2+ ions doping endows 2 with excellent environmental/thermal stability and bright orange-red emission at 605 nm with a high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of 46.85%, originating from the 4T1 → 6A1 transition of Mn2+ centers. Remarkably, 2 exhibits high radiation resistance and outstanding radioluminescence performance with a high light yield of 44347 photons/MeV and a linear response to X-ray dose rate with low detection limits (2.69 μGy·s–1). Moreover, a large-area flexible scintillation film is fabricated by combining 2 with poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS), achieving a high spatial resolution of 11 lp·mm–1. These findings provide an efficient strategy for designing novel OIH-based scintillators with high stability and exceptional RL performance.