Self-assembly of monomeric porphyrin molecules into nanostructures: Self-assembly pathways and applications for sensing and environmental treatment

Functionally designed structures mimicking natural mechanisms can be obtained via supramolecular self-assembly of porphyrin derivatives. Porphyrin-based nanomaterials obtained via self-assembly can be utilized in several applications, such as optical energy or information storage, solar energy conversion, sensors, nanocatalysts, photoelectronics, and photodynamic therapy. In recent years, the fabrication of porphyrin nanostructures via self-assembly for sensing and environmental remediation has attracted extensive interest from scientists, making it an essential aspect of the research field. This review outlines the recent progress in the fabrication of porphyrin-based nanomaterials via self-assembly, their properties, and their applications in environmental treatment and sensing. It begins with introducing porphyrin and the self-assembly method to fabricate porphyrin nanomaterials. Porphyrin nanostructures can be fabricated via self-assembly, including the re-precipitation, coordination polymerization, ionic self-assembly, and other methods, are discussed. Finally, possible applications of porphyrin-based nanoma-terials focusing on environmental remediation, sensing, hydrogen production, targeted and imaging therapy, and CO2 reduction are presented with highlights from recent studies in this field.(c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).