Hybrid Nanocomposite Scintillators for Transformational Breakthroughs in Radiation Detection and Neutrino Research

Project Information

UNICORN

Grant agreement ID: 101098649

DOI

10.3030/101098649

EC signature date 12 May 2023

Start date 1 June 2023

End date 31 May 2027

Funded under

• The European Innovation Council (EIC)

Total cost

€ 2 995 000,00

EU contribution

€ 2 995 000,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITA' DEGLI STUDI DI MILANO-BICOCCA
Italy

CORDIS provides links to public deliverables and publications of HORIZON projects.

Links to deliverables and publications from FP7 projects, as well as links to some specific result types such as dataset and software, are dynamically retrieved from OpenAIRE .

Deliverables

Data Management Plan (2)

Data Management and Protection Plan.

D5.3Preparation and update of the Data Management and Protection Plan.

RP1 update of the Data Management Plan_Rep period 1

RP1 update of the Data Management Plan

Demonstrators, pilots, prototypes (2)

0νDBD-engineered NCs

D2.1Synthesis and functionalization protocols of 0νDBD-engineered NCs

NCs in glass

D2.2Design criteria and synthesis results of NCs in glass with the mPD technique

Documents, reports (8)

Scattering

D1.3Identification of maximum tolerable light scattering compatible with high energy resolution.

oxide or chalcogenides NCs

D2.3Design criteria and synthesis results of oxide or chalcogenides NCs.

First Periodic Project Report

D5.4.1Periodic Project Reports

NC Identification

D1.2Identification of NCs exhibiting the largest Stokes shift and oscillator strengths.

Website setup

D5.2 Website and project logo information with also social media links

Identification of optimal nanocomposite size to maximise the discrimination of DBD events.

D1.1Identification of optimal nanocomposite size to maximise the discrimination of DBD events.

Dissemination & Explotation Plan

D 5.9 Plan for Dissemination and Exploitation Including Communication Activities

RP1 Technical/scientific review meeting_Reporting period 1

RPX Technical/scientific review meeting _ Reporting period 1

Websites, patent fillings, videos etc. (2)

UNICORN Summer school

D5.7UNICORN Summer school for PhD students and young researchers

UNICORN workshop

D5.6Organization of a workshop “Engineering NCs for ionizing radiation detection”.

Publications

Peer reviewed articles (30)

Perovskite-like Liquid-Crystalline Materials Based on Polyfluorinated Imidazolium Cations

Author(s): Pierangelo Metrangolo, Anastasios Stergiou, Leonardo Leccioli, Davide Ricci, Matteo L. Zaffalon, Sergio Brovelli, Francesca Baldelli Bombelli, Giancarlo Terraneo, Gabriella Cavallo
Published in: Angewandte Chemie, ISSN 1521-3773
Publisher: Wiley
DOI: 10.1002/ANIE.202408570

Advances in Perovskite Nanocrystals and Nanocomposites for Scintillation Applications

Author(s): Abhinav Anand; Matteo L. Zaffalon; Andrea Erroi; Francesca Cova; Francesco Carulli; Sergio Brovelli
Published in: ACS Energy Letters, 2024, ISSN 2380-8195
Publisher: ACS
DOI: 10.48550/ARXIV.2406.13325

Certification Grade Quantum Dot Luminescent Solar Concentrator Glazing with Optical Wireless Communication Capability for Connected Sustainable Architecture

Author(s): Francesco Meinardi, Francesco Bruni, Claudio Castellan, Marco Meucci, Ali Muhammad Umair, Marcello La Rosa, Jacopo Catani, Sergio Brovelli
Published in: Advanced Energy Materials, 2024, ISSN 1614-6832
Publisher: Wiley-VCH Verlag
DOI: 10.1002/AENM.202304006

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment

Author(s): A. Antonelli; E. Auffray; S. Brovelli; F. Bruni; M. Campajola; S. Carsi; F. Carulli; G. De Nardo; E. Di Meco; E. Diociaiuti; A. Erroi; M. Francesconi; I. Frank; S. Kholodenko; N. Kratochwil; E. Leonar
Published in: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 2024, ISSN 0168-9002
Publisher: Elsevier BV
DOI: 10.48550/ARXIV.2407.10915

Metal-free heteroatom doping of carbon nitride for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen peroxide production

Author(s): Eneko Sebastian-Garate; Bruna F. Gonçalves; Jordi Llusar; Pawel Gluchowski; Ivan Infante; Senentxu Lanceros-Mendez; Qi Zhang; Hugo Salazar
Published in: Nano Energy, 2025, ISSN 2211-3282
Publisher: Elsevier
DOI: 10.1016/J.NANOEN.2025.111551

Ultrafast Superradiant Scintillation from Isolated Weakly Confined Perovskite Nanocrystals

Author(s): Matteo L. Zaffalon; Andrea Fratelli; Zhanzhao Li; Francesco Bruni; Ihor Cherniukh; Francesco Carulli; Francesco Meinardi; Maksym V. Kovalenko; Liberato Manna; Sergio Brovelli
Published in: Advanced Materials, 2025, ISSN 1521-4095
Publisher: Wiley
DOI: 10.3929/ETHZ-B-000729204

Direct observation of the exciton polaron by serial femtosecond crystallography on single CsPbBr$_3$ quantum dots

Author(s): Shen, Zhou; Samoli, Margarita; Erdem, Onur; Bielecki, Johan; Samanta, Amit Kumar; E, Juncheng; Estillore, Armando; Kim, Chan; Kim, Yoonhee; Koliyadu, Jayanath; Letrun, Romain; Locardi, Federico; Lübk
Published in: ACS Nano, 2025, ISSN 1936-086X
Publisher: ACS
DOI: 10.48550/ARXIV.2407.10915

From Optoelectronics to Radiation Detection: Light Yield Challenges in Perovskite Scintillators

Author(s): Matteo L. Zaffalon, Luca Gironi, Martin Nikl, Sergio Brovelli
Published in: ACS Energy Letters, Issue 11, 2026, ISSN 2380-8195
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
DOI: 10.1021/ACSENERGYLETT.5C03188

Harnessing Self‐Sensitized Scintillation by Supramolecular Engineering of CsPbBr₃ Nanocrystals in Dense Mesoporous Template Nanospheres

Author(s): Xiaohe Zhou, Matteo L. Zaffalon, Emanuele Mazzola, Andrea Fratelli, Francesco Carulli, Chenger Wang, Mengda He, Francesco Bruni, Saptarshi Chakraborty, Leonardo Poletti, Francesca Rossi, Luca Gironi, Francesco Meinardi, Liang Li, Sergio Brovelli
Published in: Advanced Materials, 2025, ISSN 0935-9648
Publisher: Wiley
DOI: 10.1002/ADMA.202513469

Ultrasmall CsPbBr3 Blue Emissive Perovskite Quantum Dots Using K-Alloyed Cs4PbBr6 Nanocrystals as Precursors

Author(s): Clara Otero Martinez, Matteo L Zaffalon, Yurii Ivanov, Nikolaos Livakas, Luca Goldoni, Giorgio Divitini, Sankalpa Bora, Gabriele Saleh, Francesco Meinardi, Andrea Fratelli, Sudip Chakraborty, Lakshminarayana Polavarapu, Sergio Brovelli, Liberato Manna
Published in:  ACS Energy Letters, ISSN 2380-8195
Publisher: ACS
DOI: 10.48550/ARXIV.2406.12696

Innovative nanocrystal-based scintillators for next-generation sampling calorimeters

Author(s): Soldani M.; Antonelli A.; Auffray E.; Brovelli S.; Bruni F.; Campajola M.; Carsi S.; Carulli F.; De Nardo G.; Di Meco E.; Diociaiuti E.; Erroi A.; Francesconi M.; Frank I.; Kholodenko S.; Kratochwil N
Published in: EPJ Web of Conferences, 2025, ISSN 2100-014X
Publisher: EPJ
DOI: 10.1051/EPJCONF/202532000020

Exogenous Metal Cations in the Synthesis of CsPbBr₃ Nanocrystals and Their Interplay with Tertiary Amines

Author(s): Zhanzhao Li, Luca Goldoni, Ye Wu, Muhammad Imran, Yurii P. Ivanov, Giorgio Divitini, Juliette Zito, Iyyappa Rajan Panneerselvam, Dmitry Baranov, Ivan Infante, Luca De Trizio, Liberato Manna
Published in: Journal of the American Chemical Society, Issue 146, 2025, ISSN 0002-7863
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
DOI: 10.1021/JACS.4C03084

Environmental Effects on the Performance of Quantum Dot Luminescent Solar Concentrators

Author(s): Meghna Siripurapu, Francesco Meinardi, Sergio Brovelli, Francesco Carulli
Published in: ACS Photonics, Issue 10, 2023, ISSN 2330-4022
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
DOI: 10.1021/ACSPHOTONICS.3C00788

Fuzzy Band Structure of Quantum Dots by Bloch Orbital Expansion: Unconventional Insights into Geometric-Electronic Structure Relations

Author(s): Zeger Hens, Jordi Llusar, Ivan Infante
Published in: ACS Nano, Issue 19, 2025, ISSN 1936-0851
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
DOI: 10.1021/ACSNANO.4C17941

Charge Transfer from Perovskite Quantum Dots to Multifunctional Ligands with Tethered Molecular Species

Author(s): Mariam Kurashvili, Lena S. Stickel, Jordi Llusar, Christian Wilhelm, Fabian Felixberger, Ivana Ivanović-Burmazović, Ivan Infante, Jochen Feldmann, Quinten A. Akkerman
Published in: ACS Energy Letters, Issue 10, 2025, ISSN 2380-8195
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
DOI: 10.1021/ACSENERGYLETT.5C00881

Zero-Dimensional Gua3SbCl6 Crystals as Intrinsically Reabsorption-Free Scintillators for Radiation Detection. 

Author(s): Matteo L Zaffalon, Ye Wu, Francesca Cova, Luca Gironi, Xiaoming Li, Valerio Pinchetti, Yang Liu, Muhammad Imran, Alessia Cemmi, Ilaria Di Sarcina, Liberato Manna, Haibo Zeng, Sergio Brovelli
Published in: Advanced Functional Materials, ISSN 1616-3028
Publisher: Wiley
DOI: 10.1002/ADFM.202305564

Core@Shell AgBr@CsPbBr₃ Nanocrystals as Precursors to Hollow Lead Halide Perovskite Nanocubes

Author(s): Zhanzhao Li; Yurii P. Ivanov; Anna Cabona; Andrea Fratelli; Stefano Toso; Saptarshi Chakraborty; Giorgio Divitini; Ilka Kriegel; Sergio Brovelli; Liberato Manna
Published in: Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2025, ISSN 1520-5126
Publisher: ACS
DOI: 10.48550/ARXIV.2512.08474

A fast GGAG:Ce(Mg) single crystal scintillator: LDFZM growth, characterization and electronic band structure calculation

Author(s): František Zajíc; Vítězslav Jarý; Jiří Pospíšil; Pavel Boháček; Zafari Umar; Michal Piasecki; Mikhail G. Brik; Romana Kučerková; Alena Beitlerová; Martin Nikl
Published in: Materials Advances, 2025, ISSN 2633-5409
Publisher: Wiley
DOI: 10.1039/D4MA00976B

Highly Luminous Scintillating Nanocomposites Enable Ultrafast Time Coincidence Resolution for γ‐rays Detection with Heterostructured Multilayer Scintillators

Author(s): Sala, Matteo; Orfano, Matteo; Secchi, Valeria; Mattei, Ilaria; Pianta, Nicolò; Zabloudil, Vojtech; Lowis, Carsten; Kučerková, Romana; Nikl, Martin; Meinardi, Francesco; Auffray, Etiennette; Vill
Published in: Advanced Functional Materials, 2024, ISSN 1616-3028
Publisher: Wiley
DOI: 10.1002/ADFM.202421434

Ultrafast Nanocomposite Scintillators Based on Cd-Enhanced CsPbCl₃ Nanocrystals in Polymer Matrix

Author(s): Erroi, Andrea; Carulli, Francesco; Cova, Francesca; Frank, Isabel; Zaffalon, Matteo L.; Llusar, Jordi; Mecca, Sara; Cemmi, Alessia; Di Sarcina, Ilaria; Rossi, Francesca; Beverina, Luca; Meinardi, Fran
Published in: ACS Energy Letters, 2024, ISSN 2380-8195
Publisher: ACS
DOI: 10.48550/ARXIV.2404.14813

Scintillation Properties of CsPbBr3 Nanocrystals Prepared by Ligand-Assisted Reprecipitation and Dual Effect of Polyacrylate Encapsulation toward Scalable Ultrafast Radiation Detectors. 

Author(s): Francesca Cova, Andrea Erroi, Matteo L Zaffalon, Alessia Cemmi, Ilaria Di Sarcina, Jacopo Perego, Angelo Monguzzi, Angiolina Comotti, Francesca Rossi, Francesco Carulli, Sergio Brovelli
Published in: Nano Letters, ISSN 1530-6992
Publisher: ACS
DOI: 10.1021/ACS.NANOLETT.3C04083

European Physical Journal Plus

Author(s): Gironi L.; Dell'Oro S.; Gotti C.; Manenti N.; Mazzola E.; Nastasi M.; Peracchi D.
Published in: The European Physical Journal Plus, 2025, ISSN 2190-5444
Publisher: Springer Science + Business Media
DOI: 10.48550/ARXIV.2503.13013

Cooling‐Induced Order–Disorder Phase Transition in CsPbBr₃ Nanocrystal Superlattices

Author(s): Umberto Filippi; Stefano Toso; Matteo L. Zaffalon; Andrea Pianetti; Zhanzhao Li; Sergio Marras; Luca Goldoni; Francesco Meinardi; Sergio Brovelli; Dmitry Baranov; Liberato Manna
Published in: Advanced Materials, 2024, ISSN 1521-4095
Publisher: Wiley
DOI: 10.1002/ADMA.202410949

Defect‐Mediated Scintillation in Fully Inorganic Perovskites via Water‐Induced 0D/3D Phase Modulation

Author(s): Mario Calora, Francesco Carulli, Nadir Vanni, Antonella Giuri, Elena Ferrari, Matteo Masino, Laura Lazzarini, Francesca Rossi, Gianluca Accorsi, Anna Moliterni, Davide Altamura, Cinzia Giannini, Luca Cappelletti, Gianluca Quarta, Alberto Quaranta, Rosanna Mastria, Anna Paola Caricato, Sergio Brovelli, Aurora Rizzo
Published in: Advanced Functional Materials, 2025, ISSN 1616-301X
Publisher: Wiley
DOI: 10.1002/ADFM.202512571

Size‐Dependent Multiexciton Dynamics Governs Scintillation From Perovskite Quantum Dots

Author(s): Fratelli, A; Zaffalon, ML; Mazzola, E; Dirin, DN; Cherniukh, I; Otero-Martínez, C; Salomoni, M; Carulli, F; Rossi, F; Meinardi, F; Gironi, L; Manna, L; Kovalenko, MV; Brovelli, S
Published in: Advanced Materials, 2024, ISSN 1521-4095
Publisher: Wiley
DOI: 10.3929/ETHZ-B-000712198

Perovskite Nanocrystals Initiate One‐Step Oxygen Tolerant PET‐RAFT Polymerization of Highly Loaded, Efficient Plastic Nanocomposites

Author(s): Bellotti V.; Carulli F.; Mecca S.; Zaffalon M. L.; Erroi A.; Catalano F.; Boventi M.; Infante I.; Rossi F.; Beverina L.; Brovelli S.; Simonutti R.
Published in: Advanced Functional Materials, 2024, ISSN 1616-3028
Publisher: WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/ADFM.202411319

Ultrafast and Radiation-Hard Lead Halide Perovskite Nanocomposite Scintillators

Author(s): Andrea Erroi; Sara Mecca; Matteo L. Zaffalon; Isabel Frank; Francesco Carulli; Alessia Cemmi; Ilaria Di Sarcina; Doriana Debellis; Francesca Rossi; Francesca Cova; Kristof Pauwels; Michele Mauri; Jacopo Perego; Valerio Pinchetti; Angiolina Comotti; Francesco Meinardi; Anna Vedda; Etiennette Auffray; Luca Beverina; Sergio Brovelli
Published in: ACS ENERGY LETTERS, 2023, ISSN 2380-8195
Publisher: ACS
DOI: 10.3204/pubdb-2023-05335

Surface Reconstructions in II–VI Quantum Dots

Author(s): Llusar, Jordi; du Fossé, Indy; Hens, Zeger; Houtepen, Arjan; Infante, Ivan
Published in: ACS Nano, 2024, ISSN 1936-086X
Publisher: ACS
DOI: 10.1021/ACSNANO.3C09265

Resurfaced CsPbBr3 Nanocrystals Enable Free Radical Thermal Polymerization of Efficient Ultrafast Polyvinyl Styrene Nanocomposite Scintillators

Author(s): Carulli, Francesco; Erroi, Andrea; Bruni, Francesco; Zaffalon, Matteo L.; Liu, Mingming; Pascazio, Roberta; Adel, Abdessamad El; Catalano, Federico; Cemmi, Alessia; Di Sarcina, Ilaria; Rossi, Francesc
Published in: ACS Energy Letters, 2024, ISSN 2380-8195
Publisher: ACS
DOI: 10.48550/ARXIV.2411.17259

Scintillation Properties of CsPbBr₃ Nanocrystals Prepared by Ligand-Assisted Reprecipitation and Dual Effect of Polyacrylate Encapsulation toward Scalable Ultrafast Radiation Detectors

Author(s): Cova, Francesca; Erroi, Andrea; Zaffalon, Matteo L.; Cemmi, Alessia; Di Sarcina, Ilaria; Perego, Jacopo; Monguzzi, Angelo; Comotti, Angiolina; Rossi, Francesca; Carulli, Francesco; Brovelli, Sergio
Published in: Nano Letters, 2024, ISSN 1530-6992
Publisher: ACS
DOI: 10.48550/ARXIV.2406.13354

Conference proceedings (2)

Atomically precise surface chemistry of zirconium and hafnium metal oxo clusters beyond carboxylate ligands

Author(s): Ajmal Roshan Unniram Parambil; Rohan Pokratath; Muhammed Jibin Parammal; Evert Dhaene; Dietger Van den Eynden; Sandor Balog; Alessandro Prescimone; Ivan Infante; Patrick Shahgaldian; Jonathan De Roo
Published in: Proceedings of the MATSUS Spring 2025 Conference, 2024
Publisher: Matsus
DOI: 10.29363/NANOGE.MATSUSSPRING.2025.163

Ultrafast Superradiant Scintillation from Weakly Confined CsPbBr3 Nanocrystals

Author(s): Zaffalon, Matteo L.; Fratelli, Andrea; Li, Zhanzhao; Bruni, Francesco; Cherniukh, Ihor; Carulli, Francesco; Meinardi, Francesco; Kovalenko, Maksym V.; Manna, Liberato; Brovelli, Sergio
Published in: Proceedings of the MATSUS Spring 2025 Conference, 2024
Publisher: MatSus
DOI: 10.48550/ARXIV.2412.02516