Organic phosphors with bright triplet excitons for efficient X-ray-excited luminescence

Materials that exhibit X-ray excited luminescence have great potential in radiation detection, security inspection, biomedical applications, and X-ray astronomy1-4. However, such materials are almost exclusively limited to inorganic crystals, which are typically prepared under high temperatures5. Herein, we report a design principle of purely organic phosphors to boost X-ray excited luminescence with sufficient utilization of triplet excitons. Our experimental data reveal that proportion of emission from bright triplet excitons is significantly improved upon X-ray irradiation, compared with UV excitation. These organic phosphors have a detection limit of 33 nGy/s, which is 167 times lower than the standard dosage for X-ray medical examinations. We further demonstrated their potential application in X-ray radiography, which can be conveniently recorded using a digital camera. These findings illustrate a fundamental principle to design efficient X-ray excited purely organic phosphors, propelling the development of radioluminescence related applications.