The influence of combination mode on the structure and properties of porphyrin–graphene oxide composites

Abstract Three kinds of graphene oxide (GO)–porphyrin composites were facilely assembled by means of non-covalent interaction. It was found that the functional groups linked on the peripheries of the porphyrins had an important influence on the combination mode of porphyrin and GO, and also the properties of GO–porphyrin composites. 5, 10, 15, 20-Tetrakis(4-hydroxyphenyl)porphyrin (THPP) was easy to react with GO and flat on the GO due to the strong hydrogen bond and π–π interaction between THPP and GO. It was reasonable to conclude that the distance between THPP and GO was reduced owing to the flattening of THPP on the surface of GO, which further strengthened the interactions. Therefore, the photoelectronic activity of the GO–THPP composite was higher than those of the other two porphyrins–GO composite. These results provided some hints for how to adjust the properties of the GO–porphyrin composites by modifying the combination mode between porphyrins and GO.