Study on the Intercalation and Interlayer State of Porphyrins into α-Zirconium Phosphate

Functionalization of Graphene Oxide with Porphyrins: Synthetic Routes and Biological Applications

Among the available carbon nanomaterials, graphene oxide (GO) has been widely studied because of the possibility of anchoring different chemical species for a large number of applications, including those requiring water-compatible systems. This Review summarizes the state-of-the-art of synthetic routes used to functionalize GO, such as those involving multiple covalent and non-covalent bonds to organic molecules, functionalization with nanoparticles and doping. As a recent development in this field, special focus is given to the formation of nanocomposites comprising GO and porphyrins, and their characterization through spectroscopic techniques (such as UV-Vis, fluorescence, Raman spectroscopy), among others. The potential of such hybrid systems in targeted biological applications is also discussed, namely for cancer therapies relying on photodynamic and photothermal therapies and for the inhibition of telomerase enzyme. Lastly, some promising alternative materials to GO are presented to overcome current challenges of GO-based research and to inspire future research directions in this field.

Bactericidal efficiency of porphyrin systems

Photodynamic Inactivation is an innovative technique used to combat bacterial and viral infections which involves the use of photosensitizing agents along with light to generate cytotoxic reactive oxygen species able to kill bacteria and viruses. In the first section of this minireview, porphyrin-based fluorophores are shown to be remarkable dye candidates for PDI (photodynamic inactivation) applications. The second section is dedicated to the description of porphyrin-based antimicrobial materials and their potentialities for industrial applications such as in food packaging or antimicrobial medical devices and hygiene. Finally, the failings and perspectives of PDI are analyzed to demonstrate how the PDI technique could be an efficient and ecologically friendly antimicrobial technique.

Cationic Porphyrin-Graphene Oxide Hybrid: Donor-Acceptor Composite for Efficient Photoinduced Electron Transfer

Non-covalent nanohybrids composed of cationic 5,10,15,20-tetra(4-trimethylammoniophenyl)porphyrin tetra(p-toluenesulfonate) (TMAP) and the graphene oxide sheets were prepared under two pH values (6.2 vs. 1.8). The TMAP molecule was positively charged, regardless of the pH value during preparation. However, protonation of the imino nitrogens increased the overall charge of the porphyrin molecule from +4 to +6 (TMAP⁴⁺ and TMAP⁶⁺ ). It was found that at acidic pH, interaction of TMAP⁶⁺ with GO was largely suppressed. On the other hand, results of FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and elemental analysis confirmed effective non-covalent functionalization of graphene oxide with cationic porphyrin at pH 6.2. The TMAP⁴⁺ -GO hybrids exhibited well defined structure with a monolayer of TMAP⁴⁺ on the GO sheets as confirmed by AFM. Formation of the ground-state TMAP⁴⁺ -GO complex in solution was monitored by the red-shift of the porphyrin Soret absorption band. This ground-state interaction between TMAP⁴⁺ and GO is responsible for the static quenching of the porphyrin emission. Fluorescence was not detected for the nanohybrid which indicated that a very fast deactivation process had to take place. Ultrafast time-resolved transient absorption spectroscopy clearly demonstrated the occurrence of electron transfer from the photoexcited TMAP⁴⁺ singlet state to GO sheets, as proven by the formation of a porphyrin radical cation.

Functionalized graphene-based biomimetic microsensor interfacing with living cells to sensitively monitor nitric oxide release

We present a biomimetic and reusable microsensor with sub-nanomolar sensitivity by elaboratly functionalizing graphene for monitoring NO release in real-time.

It is a great challenge to develop electrochemical sensors with superior sensitivity that concurrently possess high biocompatibility for monitoring at the single cell level. Herein we report a novel and reusable biomimetic micro-electrochemical sensor array with nitric oxide (NO) sensing-interface based on metalloporphyrin and 3-aminophenylboronic acid (APBA) co-functionalized reduced graphene oxide (rGO). The assembling of high specificity catalytic but semi-conductive metalloporphyrin with high electric conductive rGO confers the sensor with sub-nanomolar sensitivity. Further coupling with the small cell-adhesive molecule APBA obviously enhances the cytocompatibility of the microsensor without diminishing the sensitivity, while the reversible reactivity between APBA and cell membrane carbohydrates allows practical reusability. The microsensor was successfully used to sensitively monitor, in real-time, the release of NO molecules from human endothelial cells being cultured directly on the sensor. This demonstrates its potential application in the detection of NO with very low bioactive concentrations for the better understanding of its physiological function and for medical tracking of patient states.

High density intercalation of porphyrin into transparent clay membrane without aggregation

Cationic porphyrin was successfully intercalated into transparent clay membrane by developing the new strategy for the sample preparation conditions. When water:ethanol = 1:2 (v:v) was used as solvent for porphyrin penetration process, high density intercalation of porphyrin into the clay membrane was achieved. In the interlayer space, porphyrin molecules do not aggregate owing to intercharge distance matching effect (size-matching effect), even at high density condition. Judging from XRD and absorption measurements, the orientations of the porphyrins in the clay layers should be almost parallel to the clay nanosheet as monolayer. Because the fluorescence quantum yield did not depend on its loading level, it is turned out that intercalated TMPyP in the clay film keeps the photoactivity even under the high density conditions.

Label-free ultrasensitive detection of human telomerase activity using porphyrin-functionalized graphene and electrochemiluminescence technique

Using porphyrin-functionalized graphene, we construct a PCR-free, low-cost, rapid, and electrochemiluminenscence (ECL) assay for detection of telomerase activity that has been demonstrated in six different cell lines and can be used as initial screening of G-quadruplex DNA binding agents and telomerase inhibitors. This ECL sensor shows highly sensitive for detection of telomerase with the detection limit as low as 10 HeLa cells mL(-1) .