Abstract

Development of surface coatings with high antimicrobial activity is urgently required to fight bacteria and other microorganisms on technical and hygiene relevant surfaces. Control over structure and topology of the surface coatings, combined with the ability to include functional molecules within the structure is crucial for optimizing their performance. Herein, we describe a novel strategy to synthesize structurally well-defined porphyrin polymer thin films via a template approach.

In this approach bis-azido functionalized porphyrin molecules are preorganized within a metal-organic framework (MOF) structure. Afterwards the porphyrin molecules are covalently connected followed removal of the metal component of the MOF. The resulting water-stable porphyrin polymer thin films demonstrated high antibacterial activity against pathogens via visible light-promoted generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In addition this approach offers the inherent possibility to incorporate guest molecules within the structures, to functionalize the surface with biomolecules and to create hierarchically structured materials.

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