A nanomaterial comprising a plurality of nanoparticles. The plurality of
nanoparticles includes at least one dopant and at least one of a metal
oxide, a metal phosphate, a metal silicate, a metal hafnate, a metal
aluminate, and combinations thereof. The metal is one of an alkali earth
metal, a lanthanide, and a transition metal. The plurality of
nanoparticles is formed by forming a homogenized precursor solution of at
least one metal precursor and at least one dopant precursor, adding a
fuel and optionally at least one of a phosphate source, a silicate
source, a hafnate source, and an aluminate source to the precursor
solution, removing water from the precursor solution to leave a reaction
concentrate, and igniting the reaction concentrate to form a powder
comprising the nanomaterial. In one embodiment, the nanomaterial is a
scintillator material.