Spatially nanoconfined N-type polymer semiconductors for stretchable ultrasensitive X-ray detection

• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-34968-1
• Publication Date: 2022-11-23T10:17:34Z
• Authors: Yangshuang Bian; Kai Liu; Yang Ran; Yi Li; Yuanhong Gao; Zhiyuan Zhao; Mingchao Shao; Yanwei Liu; Junhua Kuang; Zhiheng Zhu; Mingcong Qin; Zhichao Pan; Mingliang Zhu; Chenyu Wang; Hu Chen; Jia Li; Xifeng Li; Yunqi Liu; Yunlong Guo
• Keywords: Composite material; 0301 basic medicine; Polymers; Science; Perovskite Solar Cell Technology; Materials Science; Wearable Nanogenerator Technology; Biomedical Engineering; FOS: Medical engineering; Article; 03 medical and health sciences; Engineering; FOS: Electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering; Nanotechnology; Stretchable Sensors; Electrical and Electronic Engineering; Optoelectronics; Polymer; Skin; FOS: Nanotechnology; X-Rays; Physics; Q; Detector; Optics; Semiconductor; Nanofiber; Materials science; Gallium Oxide (Ga2O3) Semiconductor Materials and Devices; Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials; Radiography; Semiconductors; Physical Sciences

AbstractPolymer semiconductors are promising candidates for wearable and skin-like X-ray detectors due to their scalable manufacturing, adjustable molecular structures and intrinsic flexibility. Herein, we fabricated an intrinsically stretchable n-type polymer semiconductor through spatial nanoconfinement effect for ultrasensitive X-ray detectors. The design of high-orientation nanofiber structures and dense interpenetrating polymer networks enhanced the electron-transporting efficiency and stability of the polymer semiconductors. The resultant polymer semiconductors exhibited an ultrahigh sensitivity of 1.52 × 104 μC Gyair−1 cm−2, an ultralow detection limit of 37.7 nGyair s−1 (comparable to the record-low value of perovskite single crystals), and polymer film X-ray imaging was achieved at a low dose rate of 3.65 μGyair s−1 (about 1/12 dose rate of the commercial medical chest X-ray diagnosis). Meanwhile, the hybrid semiconductor films could sustain 100% biaxial stretching strain with minimal degeneracy in photoelectrical performances. These results provide insights into future high-performance, low-cost e-skin photoelectronic detectors and imaging.