TUTCRIS Research Portal

To develop biomimetic dye-polymers for photonics, two different types of Zn chlorin-poly(4-vinylpyridine) (P4VP) assemblies were prepared by varying Zn pyro-pheophorbide a methylester (ZnPPME) and Zn 3¹-OH-pyro- pheophorbide a methylester (Zn-3¹-OH-PPME) doping levels. ¹H NMR spectroscopy and diffusion ordered NMR spectroscopy (DOSY) studies revealed that a coordinative interaction between Zn chlorin and P4VP was predominant in solution (d₅-nitrobenzene). Small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterization of bulk samples of polystyrene-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P4VP) doped with variable amounts of Zn chlorin showed that the pigment doping transformed the native cylindrical block copolymer nanostructures to lamellar morphologies. The result indicates that the pyridine moiety-Zn chlorin coordination is stronger than the aggregation tendency between the pigment molecules even in the solid state. UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy studies of a Zn chlorin-P4VP thin film showed characteristic monomeric chlorin spectra, while steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy displayed quenching of fluorescence and time-resolved studies indicated shortening of fluorescence lifetimes with an increasing chlorin doping level. Notably, time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy revealed that the lifetime decay changed from monoexponential to biexponential above 0.5 wt% (ca. 0.001 equiv.) loadings. The Förster analysis implies that excitonic chlorin-chlorin interactions are observed in the thin films when the distance between the pigment molecules is approximately 50 Å. The Zn chlorin-P4VP solid films emit strongly up to 1 wt% (ca. 0.002 equiv.) doping level above which the chlorin-chlorin interactions start to linearly dominate with an increase of doping level, while with 10 wt% (ca. 0.02 equiv.) loading less than 10% of fluorescence remains. Doping levels up to 300 wt% (0.5 equiv.) can be used in absorbing materials without the formation of chlorin aggregates. These defined optical response regions pave the way for photonic materials based on biopigment assemblies.