Fig. 5: Environmental stability and biocompatibility of lanthanide-ionic liquid scintillators.
From: Scattering-free lanthanide-ionic liquid scintillators for high-resolution and adaptive X-ray imaging
a Weight loss of Tb(IL)3 and PPO@toluene over time at room temperature (~20 °C) and 80 °C. Insets: Optical images of both scintillators under different conditions. b Radioluminescence stability of Tb(IL)3 (top) and PPO@toluene (bottom) under on-off X-ray exposure at a dose rate of 278 µGyair s−1. c Comparison of X-ray imaging stability over 12 minutes. The circuit pattern imaged with PPO@toluene becomes distorted, while Tb(IL)3 maintains imaging clarity. Scale bar: 1 cm. d Environmental impact assessment using fresh leaves stored in a sealed petri dish. Leaves remain fresh in Tb(IL)3 for 31 hours but wither in PPO@toluene due to solvent toxicity. Scale bar: 3.5 cm. e Schematic and optical images of the MTT assay evaluating cell viability in Tb(IL)3 and PPO@toluene, with H2O as a reference. Scale bar: 9 mm. f MTT assay results showing absorbance at 570 nm. Data are presented as mean and standard error of the mean (SEM). Unpaired student’s t-test (two-tailed with criteria of significance: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, **p < 0.001) were calculated. Tb(IL)3 exhibits no significant toxicity, while PPO@toluene significantly reduces cell viability.
