All-inorganic metafabric scintillators for conformally flexible and wearable x-ray detection and imaging
Li Xu, Peng Ran, Wenqian Zhou, Yu Jia, Jianyong Yu, Yang Yang, Yang Si
Abstract
elements, whose mechanical inflexibility restricts applications in multiple scenarios. Developing an efficient scintillator that combines inorganic properties with flexibility is a desirable yet highly challenging goal. We pioneered an inorganic metafabric scintillator paradigm through self-sustained slip system engineering, transforming brittle all-inorganic scintillation materials into ductile textile architectures, yielding intrinsically conformally flexible scintillators that adhere seamlessly to complex, curved surfaces. The ultimate all-inorganic scintillator delivers near-unity quantum yield, with scintillation output more than 10 times higher than that of previous polymer matrix-based flexible scintillators. Using these metafabric scintillators, a multimodal x-ray interactive wearable platform (X-Wear) was developed, and their applications in body-centered flexible detection and imaging, mobile health, visual radiation monitoring, and breathable radiation shielding were successfully demonstrated. This work offers a previously undefined paradigm for a scintillator system design strategy that maintains the high performance of inorganic scintillators while adding the functionality of being conformally flexible and wearable of fabrics.