Zhongfu An

Glass scintillators have become promising for high‐resolution x‐ray imaging owing to the low‐scattering light output, but the inherent tendency toward crystallization remains a critical challenge to maintain long‐term stability. To fundamentally tackle glass metastability, a high‐entropy design is utilized to disrupt the energetic preference for crystallization. A series of Mn‐based organic–inorganic hybrid metal halides (ATPP _n ) ₂ MnBr ₄ (ATPP _n = alkyltriphenylphosphonium, n = 2–6) are prepared to leverage configurational entropy for the construction of five‐component high‐entropy glass (HEG). The elevated entropy in HEG establishes a formidable kinetic barrier against crystallization, thereby overcoming rapid degradation to ensure exceptional stability for over 150 days. The current Mn‐based HEG scintillator exhibits bright luminescence and outstanding scintillation properties, including a low detection limit of 16.5 nGy s ⁻¹ and a spatial resolution of 28.3 lp mm ⁻¹ . This superior performance further allows for high‐resolution and dynamic x‐ray imaging to visualize real‐time detection of rotating targets. This work not only demonstrates a stable, high‐performance glass scintillator but also validates a general high‐entropy strategy to overcome the metastability of functional glasses.

Glass scintillators have become promising for high‐resolution x‐ray imaging owing to the low‐scattering light output, but the inherent tendency toward crystallization remains a critical challenge to maintain long‐term stability. To fundamentally tackle glass metastability, a high‐entropy design is utilized to disrupt the energetic preference for crystallization. A series of Mn‐based organic–inorganic hybrid metal halides (ATPP _n ) ₂ MnBr ₄ (ATPP _n = alkyltriphenylphosphonium, n = 2–6) are prepared to leverage configurational entropy for the construction of five‐component high‐entropy glass (HEG). The elevated entropy in HEG establishes a formidable kinetic barrier against crystallization, thereby overcoming rapid degradation to ensure exceptional stability for over 150 days. The current Mn‐based HEG scintillator exhibits bright luminescence and outstanding scintillation properties, including a low detection limit of 16.5 nGy s ⁻¹ and a spatial resolution of 28.3 lp mm ⁻¹ . This superior performance further allows for high‐resolution and dynamic x‐ray imaging to visualize real‐time detection of rotating targets. This work not only demonstrates a stable, high‐performance glass scintillator but also validates a general high‐entropy strategy to overcome the metastability of functional glasses.

The rapid development of flexible electronics has increased the demand for multi‐level anti‐counterfeiting technologies with high information density and security. Integrating the structural color of photonic crystals (PCs) with the chemical color of ultralong organic phosphorescence (UOP) provides a promising route to multi‑level security, but realizing this combination remains largely unexplored. Herein, we fabricate a series of flexible polymer‐based PCs by vertical self‐assembly of monodisperse microspheres embedded with UOP molecules, achieving synergistic integration of structural color, fluorescence, and phosphorescence. These PCs exhibit mechanical flexibility, angle‐dependent structural colors and long phosphorescent lifetime extending to 2.12 s. The photonic bandgaps determined by the microsphere size can be tuned to selectively modulate the UOP emission, enabling dynamic color control of the afterglow. Furthermore, by integrating colors from physical and chemical origins, we have developed a suite of high‐level anti‐counterfeiting systems including anti‐counterfeit inks, anti‐counterfeit labels and dual‐authentication key. This work provides a mechanically compliant, solution‐processable strategy for advanced optical information encryption, highlighting the synergy between structural photonics and persistent luminescence in advanced security applications.

Purely organic room‐temperature phosphorescent (RTP) materials show great potential for enabling highly efficient electrochemiluminescence (ECL). However, current research has predominantly focused on photoluminescence (PL), electroluminescence (EL), mechanoluminescence (ML), and x‐ray radioluminescence (RL), their ECL behavior has not been investigated. In this study, we report a series of purely organic RTP materials (DPy, FPy, and TPy), constructed via a donor–acceptor (D–A) skeleton and heavy atom effect, with TPy demonstrating the highest phosphorescence quantum yield of 75.7%. Importantly, ECL emission from DPy, FPy, and TPy particles is successfully achieved. Mechanistic studies reveal that RTP‐based ECL operates via a dual‐pathway process involving both a low oxidation potential pathway and the annihilation reaction pathway. These findings significantly broaden the applicability of RTP materials, thereby advancing the development of ECL systems.

Purely organic room‐temperature phosphorescent (RTP) materials show great potential for enabling highly efficient electrochemiluminescence (ECL). However, current research has predominantly focused on photoluminescence (PL), electroluminescence (EL), mechanoluminescence (ML), and x‐ray radioluminescence (RL), their ECL behavior has not been investigated. In this study, we report a series of purely organic RTP materials (DPy, FPy, and TPy), constructed via a donor–acceptor (D–A) skeleton and heavy atom effect, with TPy demonstrating the highest phosphorescence quantum yield of 75.7%. Importantly, ECL emission from DPy, FPy, and TPy particles is successfully achieved. Mechanistic studies reveal that RTP‐based ECL operates via a dual‐pathway process involving both a low oxidation potential pathway and the annihilation reaction pathway. These findings significantly broaden the applicability of RTP materials, thereby advancing the development of ECL systems.

Scintillation, the phenomenon of luminescence under bombardment of x‐rays, excites multiple areas, including ionizing radiation detection, biomedical imaging, and electron microscopy. For organic scintillators, employing triplet excitons represents a useful strategy to increase the radioluminescence intensity. However, utilization of the triplet excitons generally conflicts with the development of fast scintillators, which are key to fast‐timing medical radiography. Here, we design a series of efficient fluorophores with anti‐Kasha energy levels, enabling fast scintillation by effectively utilizing high‐lying triplet excitons. As a result, the fluorescent scintillators exhibit short lifetimes in the nanosecond range and a low detection limit of 21.7 nGy s ⁻¹ , which is two orders of magnitude lower than the dosage for x‐ray medical diagnostics. Encouraged by the results, we further employ high‐throughput virtual screening to accelerate the development of fast organic scintillators and demonstrate their potential in advanced radiography. This design principle could provide inspirations to exploit efficient fast organic scintillators, thereby advancing the applications of organic scintillators in the x‐ray community.

Scintillation, the phenomenon of luminescence under bombardment of x‐rays, excites multiple areas, including ionizing radiation detection, biomedical imaging, and electron microscopy. For organic scintillators, employing triplet excitons represents a useful strategy to increase the radioluminescence intensity. However, utilization of the triplet excitons generally conflicts with the development of fast scintillators, which are key to fast‐timing medical radiography. Here, we design a series of efficient fluorophores with anti‐Kasha energy levels, enabling fast scintillation by effectively utilizing high‐lying triplet excitons. As a result, the fluorescent scintillators exhibit short lifetimes in the nanosecond range and a low detection limit of 21.7 nGy s ⁻¹ , which is two orders of magnitude lower than the dosage for x‐ray medical diagnostics. Encouraged by the results, we further employ high‐throughput virtual screening to accelerate the development of fast organic scintillators and demonstrate their potential in advanced radiography. This design principle could provide inspirations to exploit efficient fast organic scintillators, thereby advancing the applications of organic scintillators in the x‐ray community.

Ultralong organic phosphorescence (UOP) materials are garnering significant attention for their potential in advanced optoelectronics. Despite recent progress, achieving reversible mechano‐responsive UOP remains a formidable challenge, particularly for materials capable of dynamic afterglow color tuning. Herein, we propose an effective strategy to dynamically tune UOP by modulating intermolecular energy transfer via precise mechanical control. Under mechanical stimuli, the resulting composite polymer films exhibit a distinct ratiometric transition in delayed emission, characterized by an intensity decrease at 500/534 nm with a concurrent enhancement at 600 nm. Notably, this long‐lived luminescence demonstrates a more pronounced response to mechanical deformation than prompt fluorescence, demonstrating an intrinsic superiority of time‐gated signaling in eliminating background interference. Furthermore, the polymer displays exceptional reversibility and durability, recovering its initial state either spontaneously under ambient conditions or at an accelerated rate via thermal treatment. This unique ratiometric mechano‐responsivity facilitates high‐contrast, high‐fidelity applications in impact sensing and occlusal force mapping. This work provides a universal platform for engineering smart UOP materials and expands the applications of phosphorescent polymers in advanced sensing technologies.

Flexible X-ray scintillators are critical for next-generation conformal imaging and wearable radiation monitoring, yet their development is hindered by the persistent trade-offs among particle dispersion, scintillation efficiency, and mechanical robustness in conventional composite designs. Here, we overcome these limitations via a ligand-matrix interface engineering strategy, integrating highly soluble copper-iodide clusters with a self-healing fluorinated block copolymer to produce highly stretchable and autonomously self-healing scintillator films. Interfacial coordination and ion-dipole interactions guide the in situ self-assembly of uniformly dispersed, aggregation-induced emission-active clusters within the polymer matrix, while dynamic dipole-dipole interactions between fluorinated segments confer high stretchability (up to 2000% strain) and room-temperature self-healing capability. The resulting films achieve a high spatial resolution of 16.4 lp mm⁻¹, enabling distortion-free conformal imaging of curved objects and maintaining high-fidelity imaging under severe mechanical deformation or in aqueous environments. Furthermore, dip-coated textiles functionalized with the composite serve as wearable radiation-alert systems that synergize real-time visual detection with passive X-ray shielding. This work provides a versatile materials platform that reconciles long-standing performance conflicts, paving the way for advanced conformal diagnostics and scalable personal radiation protection technologies.

Organic room‐temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials have attracted significant attention in the fields of organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs), secure data encryption, chemical sensing, bioimaging, and scintillation, driven by their superior triplet exciton utilization, large Stokes shifts, and long‐lived emission. However, traditional RTP systems are predominantly synthesized in the bulk state, resulting in inherent mechanical brittleness and poor aqueous dispersibility that impede their integration into complex biological environments. Developing high‐efficiency nanoscale organic phosphors that maintain intense triplet emission remains a formidable challenge. This review provides a comprehensive overview of prepared methods for phosphorescent nanoparticles (NPs) and elucidates molecular design strategies tailored to optimize RTP performance for biomedical frontiers. Specifically, we highlight their transformative potential in advanced bioimaging and photodynamic cancer therapy. Finally, we discuss current bottlenecks and offer a prospective outlook on future advancements, aiming to bridge the gap between fundamental molecular design and clinical translatability.