A universal strategy toward two-component organic-inorganic metal halide luminescent glasses and glass-crystal composites.

He, Zi-Lin; Luo, Jian-Bin; Chen, Jing-Hua; Wei, Jun-Hua; Miao, Xiao-He; Zhang, Zhi-Zhong; Peng, Qing-Peng; Guo, Xiu-Xian et al. · Sci Adv · 2025

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

The development of melt-quenched organic-inorganic metal halide (OIMH) glasses is hampered by the scarcity of suitable organic molten salts and low luminescence efficiency. Herein, we developed a series of two-component OIMH amorphous glasses consisting of (TPG)<sub>2</sub>MnBr<sub>4</sub> (TPG<sup>+</sup>, triphenylguanidium) and A<sub>2</sub>MnBr<sub>4</sub> (A, organic molten cation), named α<sub>G</sub>(A<i><sub>x</sub></i>TPG<i><sub>y</sub></i>). The high glass-formation ability (GFA) in (TPG)<sub>2</sub>MnBr<sub>4</sub> provides a platform to modulate the crystallization of another molten A<sub>2</sub>MnBr<sub>4</sub> by homogeneous melting. Moreover, the GFA modulation allows controlled in situ crystallization of α<sub>G</sub>(A<i><sub>x</sub></i>TPG<i><sub>y</sub></i>) and the formation of transparent glass-crystal composites with higher luminescence efficiency. For instance, the light yield of α<sub>G</sub>(PTP<i><sub>99</sub></i>TPG<i><sub>1</sub></i>) (PTP<sup>+</sup>, propyltriphenylphosphonium) is improved from 18,800 to 35,140 photons per mega-electron volt after annealing at 55°C, showing huge application potentials in radiation detection and high-resolution x-ray imaging. The present research would inspire further exploration of high-performance OIMH glasses and facilitate multiple applications in advanced photonics such as scintillators, photoconductive fibers, light-emitting diodes, and laser crystals.