Gleaming Uranium: An Emerging Emitter for Building X‐ray Scintillators.

Scintillators are a unique class of luminescent materials with specific applications towards radiation detection. The emitters within state‐of‐the‐art scintillators are mostly limited to bismuth, cerium, europium, thallium, lead, tungsten, etc. A shared feature of these elements is the relatively high atomic number, which is responsible for high radiation stopping power and radiation‐induced luminescence. Searching for new scintillating materials is an essential target aiming at specific applications. In this Concept article, we will discuss our recent works on the topic of "uranyl‐bearing scintillators". As a virgin territory in this field, uranyl‐bearing scintillators show intrinsic merits for designing new materials with X‐ray detection capability, that is, the large photoelectric cross‐section, high X‐ray attenuation efficiency, and high crystal density. In addition, we also present challenges in the further development of the uranyl‐bearing scintillators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]