Effects of different light irradiations on structure and optical properties of methoxy-substituted tetraphenylporphyrins

UV lamp, filtered halogen lamp (at 425 nm) and Green laser (532 nm) experiments on a series of meso-substituted tetra phenyl porphyrin, TPP, bearing methoxy peripheral groups together with a metal derivate of 3,4 dimethoxy TPP were lead to different protonation and aggregation structures. Properties of irradiated porphyrins were investigated using their absorption and emission spectra in dichloromethane solution. The results show that the optical properties of the TPP derivates depend on light irradiation source, which shows the tuning of the absorption and emission spectra of the TPP derivates. From the dynamic light scattering measurements, the size distribution of samples was estimated about 5–15 nm in solvent after irradiation. Atomic force microscopy images of deposited porphyrins on the glass surface were shown average particle size between 10 and 30 nm. Particularly, self-assembly of the porphyrin derivates was also observed when green laser was used. We suggest that the irradiation source plays an important role in the controlling of size and morphology of products, and we propose a self-organization model to explain the formation of the porphyrin nanostructures.