Advanced Confined CsPbBr3/ZnO/PS Nanocomposite Structure With Efficient Response to Ionizing Radiation (ANSWER)
Project ID:GA24-12872S
Provider:Czech Science Foundation
Period:Jan 01, 2024 - Dec 31, 2026
Recipient -- coordinator:Faculty of Electrical Engineering, CTU in Prague -- prof. RNDr. Bohuslav Rezek Ph.D.
Co-recepient(s) / PI(s):Institute of Plasma Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague -- Mgr. Maksym Buryi Ph.D.
-- Mgr. Oleksii Laguta Ph.D.
Co-investigators from IPPZ. Tomášová, S. Sharma, B. Lopez Nino, Z. Zábranský, A. Mašláni, J. Zich, O. Šot

Aims of the project: A completely new nanocomposite concept is proposed for time-of-flight applications. It consists of hollow ZnO microrods doped with erbium grown by hydrothermal method (HTM) and filled with CsPbBr3 (CPB) quantum dots inside and also decorated with CPB nanoparticles on the surface. HTM grown ZnO is characterized by red broadband defect emission and narrowband ultraviolet exciton emission. CPB nanoparticles glow green whereas CPB quantum dots glow blue. Altogether this results in the intense broad spectral region covering 380-800 nm. CPB is hygroscopic and ZnO can adsorb water from the atmosphere which degrades the properties. Therefore, the CPB/ZnO nanocomposite will also be encapsulated with scintillation polystyrene. The light yield as well as the timing characteristics will thus be improved. These key aspects will be revealed by the synergy of first-principles calculations and experimental techniques. The invention of an efficient nanoscintillartor with advanced performance pushed to the intrinsic limits can be expected.