Conventional thermoluminescence (TL) dosimeters, a type
of off-line
radiation detection device, are made of inorganic materials that usually
require high synthesis temperatures (above 600 °C) and exhibit
a multiple peak glow curve with an unclear structure–property
relationship, posing an urgent need to seek new TL materials. Here,
we presented the first case of applying metal–organic frameworks
(MOFs) as a new material platform to construct a TL dosimeter. Synthesized
at mild conditions (around 100 °C), the MOF-based TL material
exhibits a single peak glow curve, high X-ray attenuation efficiency,
and excellent dose–response linearity ranging from 0.01 to
10 Gy. The crystalline nature of MOFs associated with unambiguous
structural information enables TL mechanism elucidation by theoretical
calculations, which indicate that in SCU-300 the stable free radicals
responsible for emitting visible light when heated are attributed
to the charge transform (CT) from the anionic carboxyl groups to the
centrosymmetric benzene ring. Furthermore, micron-sized SCU-300 single
crystals were subjected to a point dose monitoring experiment based
on a simulated eyeball model, and the measured doses match well (error
<4%) with those by Monte Carlo calculations.