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Liquid and film-type organic scintillators based on near-infrared fluorescent π-conjugated polymers containing hypervalent tin(IV) compounds

Polymer Journal volume 57, pages 567–573 (2025) Cite this article

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Abstract

Much effort has been devoted to developing organic scintillators because of their wide versatility in the liquid and solid states. Recently, near-infrared (NIR) scintillators have attracted much attention owing to their ability to sensitively detect radiation doses. Herein, we report that NIR fluorescent π-conjugated polymers containing hypervalent tin(IV) compounds can be utilized for generating liquid and film-type organic scintillators. By incorporating tin, a heavy element known to have excellent radiation absorption properties, into the fluorescent π-conjugated framework, intense scintillations were observed upon X-ray irradiation. The polymer films exhibited NIR fluorescence in the region from 700 to 1250 nm, and the scintillation signals were enhanced as the irradiation dose increased. These results demonstrate that incorporating heavy elements into π-conjugated skeletons is an effective strategy to fabricate organic scintillators based on luminescent polymers.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by the Hirose Foundation (for MG), the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), and Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (JP23K23398) (to MG) and (JP24K01570) (to KT).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Polymer Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Nishikyo-ku, Katsura, Kyoto, 615-8510, Japan

    Masayuki Gon, Kazuya Tanimura & Kazuo Tanaka

  2. Department of Technology and Ecology, Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Katsura, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto, 615-8510, Japan

    Masayuki Gon & Kazuo Tanaka

  3. Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST) 8916-5, Takayama-cho, Ikoma-shi, Nara, 630-0192, Japan

    Kai Okazaki, Takumi Kato, Daisuke Nakauchi, Noriaki Kawaguchi & Takayuki Yanagida

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  1. Masayuki Gon
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  2. Kazuya Tanimura
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Correspondence to Takayuki Yanagida or Kazuo Tanaka.

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Gon, M., Tanimura, K., Okazaki, K. et al. Liquid and film-type organic scintillators based on near-infrared fluorescent π-conjugated polymers containing hypervalent tin(IV) compounds. Polym J 57, 567–573 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-025-01017-9

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