We demonstrated the feasibility of measuring the axial coordinate of a gamma quantum interaction point in a plastic scintillator bar via the detection of scintillation photons escaping from the scintillator with an array of wavelengthshifting (WLS) strips. Using a test set-up comprising a BC-420 scintillator bar and an array of sixteen BC-482A WLS strips we achieved a spatial resolution of 5 mm (σ) for annihilation photons from a 22 Na isotope. The studied method can be used to improve the spatial resolution of a plastic-scintillator-based PET scanner which is being developed by the J-PET collaboration.

Technological innovation enforces a revolutionized approach towards materials chemistry. In this paper a new methodology towards crystal engineering of polar materials for possible applications in linear or non-linear optics (NLO), as well as ferroelectric, pyroelectric or piezoelectric crystals is presented. The necessity to fulfil several criteria concerning symmetry, electron properties of the building blocks, and also mechanical and optical stability was achieved by fusion of a pharmaceutical molecule and an NLO-phore. Co-crystals of 2-amino-5-nitropyridine barbital, presented in this manuscript, show cutting-edge optical performance. Large second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency (40 times better than potassium dihydrogen phosphate, KDP), extreme birefringence (2.7 times higher than for calcite), simplicity in preparation, and optical and mechanical stability of the product proves that in fact a new generation of smart materials was obtained.

Chromic materials are nowadays widely used in various technological applications, however understanding the effect and the possibility of tuning the obtained colour of a material are still challenging. Here a combined experimental and theoretical study is presented on the solvatochromic and crystallochromic effects in the (pseudo)polymorphs of tyraminium violurate. This organic material exhibits a large solvatochromic shift (ca 192 nm) associated with broad colour change (from yellow to dark violet). Tyraminum violurate crystallizes as red crystals of form (I) from water as a solvate, and as an unsolvated form [violet crystals of (II)] from methanol solution. Form (I), when heated, undergoes two crystal-to-crystal phase transformations associated with colour change of the crystals. Crystals of (II) show extreme birefringence (ca 0.46) and high refractive index (n γ above 1.90), which can be correlated with preferential orientation of the resultant dipole moments of the ions. Examination of optical effects (UV–Vis spectra) along with theoretical calculations (QTAIM, atomic and bond polarizabilities) enabled the description of the origin of colour in the studied materials.

Combination of qualitative and quantitative crystal engineering tools for efficient design and detailed analysis of novel functional materials.