In recent years， thermally activated delayed fluorescence （TADF） scintillators have shown broad application prospects in radiation detection and X-ray imaging due to their high exciton utilization and high light yield. TADF scintillators realize the excited state transition from triplet state to singlet state through the reverse inter-system crossing （RISC） mechanism， which significantly improves the photoluminescence quantum yield and light yield. In this paper， the latest research progress of TADF scintillators is reviewed， and the research progress of its scintillation mechanism and different material systems is discussed. The design and performance of TADF scintillators based on all-inorganic materials， organic molecules and organic-inorganic hybrid systems （new donor acceptor structures， metal clusters） are mainly introduced. Although TADF scintillators have made significant progress in luminous efficiency and stability， they still face challenges such as material degradation under high energy radiation and large-scale preparation. Future research needs to further explore new TADF scintillators and clear luminescence mechanism to achieve more efficient and stable radiation detection applications.