High-resolution X-ray imaging is paramount to the advancement of modern medical diagnostics, security screening, and industrial inspection, all of which rely on the efficient conversion of high-energy radiation into visible light. Metal halide perovskites have emerged as ideal candidates for next-generation scintillator technology, paving the way for a new era of highly sensitive, low-cost, and high-resolution radiation detection.
A team of material scientists led by Jiacheng Wang from Taizhou University in Zhejiang, China recently outlined a novel strategy using nickel-doping engineering to advance perovskite-based X-ray scintillators. Advanced scintillator technologies that are flexible, highly sensitive, and environmentally stable are ideal for radiation detection and have potential applications in both medical radiography and non-destructive industrial testing. Current research is aimed at overcoming the intrinsic instability and energy loss of perovskite materials, allowing them to effectively and stably visualize internal structures ranging from biological tissues to electronic chips.
The team published their research article in Nano Research on July 20, 2026.
"In this study, we present an effective metal doping engineering strategy to synergistically improve the scintillation performance and environmental robustness of CsPbBr3 perovskites. By introducing nickel ions, we successfully suppressed non-radiative recombination and improved the structural integrity of the material, leading to exceptional light yield and imaging resolution," said Jiacheng Wang, senior author of the paper and professor at the Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Island Green Energy and New Materials, Institute of Electrochemistry, School of Materials Science and Engineering at Taizhou University.
Metal halide perovskites (such as CsPbBr3) are known for their strong optoelectronic characteristics, including a high effective atomic number that makes them excellent at absorbing X-rays. However, their practical deployment has historically been constrained by intrinsic structural instability and high susceptibility to moisture and prolonged light exposure.
The research team outlines the progress made in engineering the lattice and defects of these nanosized materials. "The incorporation of Ni2+ dopants triggers lattice contraction, forming highly stable Ni-Br bonds that enhance resistance to environmental perturbations like water and ultraviolet light. Furthermore, the doping effectively passivates intrinsic defects and traps, channeling more excited carriers through radiative recombination pathways," Jiacheng Wang said.
This synergistic effect drastically improves performance, which will be particularly useful for practical X-ray imaging devices. The modified perovskites exhibited an 11-fold enhancement in photoluminescence intensity and a near-unity quantum yield jumping from 56.0% to 93.7%. Jiacheng Wang said, "By embedding these engineered nanocrystals into a flexible polymer matrix, this flexible scintillation screen enables high-resolution X-ray imaging with a spatial resolution of 16.6 lp mm−1, notably surpassing that of the majority of reported perovskite-based and commercial scintillators."
One of the challenges of developing commercial X-ray scintillators is achieving a low enough detection limit to minimize human exposure to radiation while maintaining a high light output. To address this issue, Ni-doped CsPbBr3 scintillator of the team was designed to deliver an exceptional light yield of 38,428.5 photons MeV−1 and an extremely low detection limit of 64.9 nGyair s−1, which is less than one-sixteenth of the standard dose used in traditional medical X-ray diagnostics.
The research team expects the study to spur the development of new metal-doped perovskite scintillators designed to facilitate safer, cheaper, and higher-resolution X-ray imaging. "This study provides profound insights into the pivotal role of metal doping in halide perovskites. We expect these highly efficient and environmentally stable scintillators to become a practical alternative to traditional inorganic crystals in radiation detection technologies in the coming years," said Jiacheng Wang.
Other contributors include Rufeng Wang, Chenglong Qiu, Junnan Song, Zhenjie Cheng, Yanxian Jin, and Guiqiang Pu from the Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Island Green Energy and New Materials at Taizhou University in China; Yangmin Tang from the Electronic Engineering Department at The Chinese University of Hong Kong in China; and Wei Chen from the Department of Materials Design and Innovation at the University at Buffalo, SUNY in the USA.
This work was supported by the Central Guidance on Science and Technology Development Fund of Zhejiang Province (2024ZY01011), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22402144).
DOI Link:
https://doi.org/10.26599/NR.2026.94908817
About Nano Research
Nano Research is a peer-reviewed, open access, international and interdisciplinary research journal, sponsored by Tsinghua University and the Chinese Chemical Society, published by Tsinghua University Press on the platform SciOpen. It publishes original high-quality research and significant review articles on all aspects of nanoscience and nanotechnology, ranging from basic aspects of the science of nanoscale materials to practical applications of such materials. After 18 years of development, it has become one of the most influential academic journals in the nano field. Nano Research has published more than 1,000 papers every year from 2022, with its cumulative count surpassing 8,000 articles. In 2025 InCites Journal Citation Reports, its 2025 IF is 9.4 (8.3, 5 years), and it continues to be the Q1 area among the four subject classifications. Nano Research Award, established by Nano Research together with TUP and Springer Nature in 2013, and Nano Research Young Innovators (NR45) Awards, established by Nano Research in 2018, have become international academic awards with global influence.
