Self-Organized Porphyrinic Materials

Self-organized porphyrinic materials, which are considered as ideal molecules for the construction of photonic systems, are studied. The porphyrinic systems self-assembled and self-organized using H-bonds are found to be efficient mediators of electron transfer, which is similar to photogated charge sensitive ion conducting systems in bilayers. Scanning tunneling and atomic force microscopy provide an understanding of interactions between porphyrinic molecules and interactions between molecules and surfaces by allowing control and manipulation of molecules in terms of fabrication of patterned nanostructures. Attachment of porphyrins and other porphyrinoids to oxide surfaces through metal ions with large ionic radii that protrude out of the plane of the macrocycle represent an alternative to organic tethers. Crystallographic data have produced various important design criteria on the cooperative formation of lattices containing fullerenes and porphyrins.