Aggregation Properties of Metallic Tetrasulphophthalocyanines Encapsulated in Sol-Gel Materials

Abstract

Metallic phthalocyanines exhibit, among many useful properties, the ability to protect sensors against short, intense optical pulses deleterious to efficient sensor operation. It is possible by means of low temperature sol-gel techniques to obtain porous monolithic materials encapsulating metallic ions, and all sorts of complex organic molecules. We report here the study of water-soluble metallic tetrasulphophthalocyanines (MTSPc) encapsulated in silica obtained by the sol-gel technique. These materials are transparent and stable and exhibit interesting optical properties. Absorption in the visible region of the spectrum reveals aggregation of the MTSPc species to form dimers which modify the optical absorption of excited states and the resulting optical properties. We investigate the relative importance of the various physicochemical parameters affecting dimer formation (dye concentration, pH, presence of species such as dimethylformamide, pyridine, etc.) in order to control and inhibit dimer formation. Two species are chosen as examples of the general behavior: CuTSPc, which shows a strong tendency to dimerize in water and in mixtures of solvents, and (OH)AlTSPc, which does not form dimers in aqueous solutions because of its hindering OH axial group. The experiments performed show that addition of dimethylformamide or pyridine does not inhibit aggregation in CuTSPc, simultaneously causing the blue color to disappear from the prepared gels. In the case of (OH)AlTSPc addition of relatively high concentrations of pyridine brings about the formation of non-monomeric species.