Unlocking radioluminescence in copper cyclic trinuclear complexes

Conventional scintillators that rely on heavy metals and halides often struggle with high costs, synthetic complexity, toxicity, and afterglow, while organic scintillators suffer from low light yield and complicated synthesis. This study introduces a family of scintillators based on copper(I) cyclic trinuclear complexes that combine strong radioluminescence with low cost, facile synthesis, nontoxicity, and environmental compatibility. Experimental and computational analyses reveal a distinct luminescence mechanism dominated by intermolecular Cu(I)...Cu(I) interactions. An unconventional halogen-free strategy substantially enhances the radioluminescence of a methyl-substituted copper(I) trinuclear complex, achieving an exceptional light yield of about 70,475 photons/MeV.