One-Dimensional Hybrid Copper(I) Iodide Single Crystal with Renewable Scintillation Properties.

Low-dimensional hybrid copper(I) halides attract considerable attention in the field of light emissions. In this work, we obtained the centimeter-sized single crystal of 1,3-propanediamine copper(I) iodide (PDACuI) with a solvent evaporation method. The single crystal X-ray diffraction of PDACuI reveals that the [CuI] tetrahedra form the corner-connected chains separated by PDAs, forming a one-dimensional structure with an orthorhombic space group of . The band gap is determined to be 4.03 eV, and the room temperature photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield is determined to be 26.5%. The thermal quenching and negative thermal quenching of emission are observed via temperature-dependent PL spectra, and our study shows that the intermediate nonradiative state below the self-trapped exciton state may get involved in these temperature-dependent behaviors. The X-ray scintillation performance of PDACuI single crystals is also evaluated, and the relative light output renewed to 94.3% of the fresh one after a low-temperature annealing. On the basis of our results, PDACuI single crystals provide nontoxicity and renewable scintillation performance, thus showing potential application in the area of low-cost radiation detectors.