Green massive mechanical synthesis of highly efficient Zn-Doped Cs3Cu2I5 for LED and X-ray imaging applications

[Display omitted] •Green and large-scale preparation of Cs3Cu2I5 using an improved ball milling method.•Utilizing Zn2+ to regulate the formation energy barriers of STE.•The PLQY of Cs3Cu2I5 prepared by ZnI2 assisted ball milling method increased by 160%.•Obtained a portable non-toxic film for scintillation/LED that is easy to process and apply. As a new generation of environmentally friendly halide materials, Cs3Cu2I5 shows up the promising application in scintillation, LED, and photoelectric detection fields. However, liquid phase methods cannot produce Cs3Cu2I5 on a large scale, and the preparation process is accompanied by serious pollution. Although the ball milling method can solve the problems caused by the liquid phase synthesis method, the Cs3Cu2I5 obtained has many surface defects and low luminescence efficiency. In this work, a strategy of doping-assisted ball-milling synthesis using ZnI2 is proposed. Similar to the chemical preparation of Cs3Cu2I5, the iodine-rich environment during the modified ball milling process can also play a role in repairing surface defects. And it has been demonstrated through experiments and first principles calculations that the distortion of [Cu2I5]3- under ground/excited state can be adjusted through doping Zn into the Cu1 site, the formation barrier of self-trapped excitons is reduced, and the luminous efficiency of Cs3Cu2I5 is significantly improved. Subsequently, using the simple hot-pressing method, the representative Cs3Cu2I5:1.0Zn sample was combined with commercially available polypropylene to fabricate Cs3Cu2I5:1.0Zn@PP film. Finally, the potential applications of the newly-developed film in portable and customizable WLED and scintillation fields were explored.