Publication date: 15th December 2025
Lead halide perovskite nanocrystals (NCs), such as CsPbBr3, are promising candidates for next-generation scintillators due to their ultrafast radiative kinetics and high emission efficiency [1]. However, their integration in composite scintillators is limited by poor compatibility with high-Z sensitizers, reabsorption losses at high loading, and low radiation stopping power due to their nanoscale dimensions [2].
Here, a robust strategy is demonstrated to hybridize CsPbBr3 NCs with hafnium oxide (HfO2) nanoparticles (NPs) as transparent, high-Z electromagnetic sensitizers. Surface oxygen dangling bonds on HfO2 NPs are identified as the main source of perovskite degradation, and it is shown that a PbBr2 pre-treatment effectively passivates these sites. This enables stable NC-NP hybrids, preserving optical quality and scintillation properties. Co-synthesis in the presence of treated HfO2 NPs suppresses NC degradation and enhances both photoluminescence efficiency and thermal robustness. The hybrids can be embedded in polymer nanocomposites via thermal radical polymerization, a process typically detrimental to perovskites.
Under X-ray excitation, HfO2 NPs significantly enhance radioluminescence intensity without compromising the ultrafast response of CsPbBr3 NCs, confirming efficient electromagnetic sensitization via electron cascade.
This work offers a viable pathway for designing hybrid nanoscintillators with enhanced stopping power and stable optical performance for practical radiation detection technologies.
F.B. and S.C. contributed equally to this work. This work was funded by Horizon Europe EIC Pathfinder program through project 101098649 – UNICORN, by the European Union -Next Generation EU, Mission 4 Component 1 CUP H53D23004670006 and CUP H53D23004500006, and through the Italian Ministry of University and Research under PNRR—M4C2-I1.3 Project PE_00000019 “HEAL ITALIA”.
This research is funded and supervised by the Italian Space Agency (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, ASI) in the framework of the Research Day “Giornate della Ricerca Spaziale” initiative through the contract ASI N. 2023-4-U.0t.
A.F. acknowledges funding from European Research Council through the ERC Advanced Grant NEHA (grant agreement no. 101095974).
A.E.A., J.L., I.I. acknowledge IKUR strategy under the collaboration agreement between Ikerbasque Foundation and BC Materials on behalf of the Department of Education of the Basque Government. D.F.T. and M.D. calculations were carried out at the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), for which the authors acknowledge for technical and human support.
We also thank PRACE for accessing us to Leonardo HPC facilities at CINECA, Italy.
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