Modern Applications of Porphyrin-Based MOFs in Agriculture

Abstract

Nanosized metal-porphyrinic frameworks are an interesting class of porous electro- and photoactive materials finding applications in medicine (photodymanic therapy, photothermal therapy, drug delivery and chemotherapy, immunotherapy), [1], sanitary and antimicrobial devices [2], waste water purification [3], photocatalytic organic transformations [4], production of solar fuels [5], and more recently, in agriculture [6]. The fact that porphyrin derivatives are colored, they are prone for the photosensitization of singlet oxygen (1O2(g); a reactive oxygen species of type II) either at the solid state/air interfaces or in solution leading to applications listed above using visible light. In fact, they even do this efficiently. Reactive oxygen species of type I (for examples, H-O radical, HO-OH, superoxide radical, perhydroxyl radical, etc) are also photo-produced when given metals inside the porphyrins and metallic nodes in the frameworks are used, or when the metal-porphyrinic frameworks form a composite with another semiconductor. Moreover, the size of the nanoparticles can be tailored. All of these properties are cleverly exploited in the field of agriculture and include the following applications: controlled delivery of pesticides and agro-chemicals, detection of pesticides and pathogenic metals, elimination of pesticides and toxic metals, and photodynamic antimicrobial activity, and the nanosized metal-porphyrinic frameworks also have an important implication in food safety. This presentation will describe these features along with new experimental results.