Guangxi University Achieves New Progress in Near-Infrared Luminescent Materials and Devices

Recently, the Nanophotonics Materials and Technology team led by Professor Zou Bingso from the School of Resources, Environment and Materials at Guangxi University, in collaboration with Associate Professor Yang Li’na from the School of Computer, Electronics and Information and Professor Niu Quan from South China University of Technology, has achieved new advancements in the study of near-infrared luminescent materials and devices guided by artificial intelligence. The related findings were published in the international academic journal *Nature Communications* under the title “Machine-learning guided engineering of Mo⁴⁺ activated halide near-infrared phosphors for AI-augmented medical imaging.” Professor Zou Bingso is the sole corresponding author, and Guangxi University is the first affiliation and the sole corresponding affiliation of the paper.

Guangxi is known as the “Home of Nonferrous Metals,” with abundant reserves of antimony, zirconium, and molybdenum. How to utilize these elements to develop high-value-added novel optoelectronic materials and devices is a current challenge. The team focused on the key scientific problem of developing efficient, lead-free near-infrared (NIR) phosphors with high thermal stability. By co-doping Mo⁴⁺ and Sb³⁺ into a Cs2Zr(Cl1-xBrx)6 matrix and combining machine learning prediction for optimization, they successfully obtained a broadband near-infrared emission material centered at 920 nm.

This material achieves a photoluminescence quantum yield of 92.4% and an external quantum efficiency of 65.9%. Compared to the optimal composition obtained through traditional orthogonal experimental design, the luminescence intensity of this material is increased by approximately 20%. The near-infrared LED prepared based on SM-CZCB achieves a power conversion efficiency of 27.07% under 450 nm excitation.

This study integrates artificial intelligence (AI) throughout the entire chain of material design, device fabrication, and imaging applications, successfully achieving high-resolution visualization of vascular structures through over 11 cm of human tissue thickness. It provides new insights for AI-enhanced medical imaging research and opens new pathways for the application of Guangxi’s characteristic metal resources in the field of new materials.

The research was supported by the Guangxi Science and Technology Program, the Guangxi Natural Science Foundation, the Guangxi Talent Highland for “Nanophotonics Materials and Technology,” and the Guangxi Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metals and Featured Materials Processing.