The Optical Sensing of Volatile Organic Compounds Using Porphyrins

The detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is a rapidly growing research area due to the importance of VOCs in environmental pollution, human health assessment, food quality control, and homeland security. Optical sensing materials based on porphyrins are particularly appealing for VOCs detection, owing to availability of porphyrins, their exceptional optical and binding properties, as well as their photo and chemical stability. As research and technology continue to advance, optical sensors involving these materials are expected to play an increasing role in various applications. This article presents an overview of porphyrin-based sensing materials developed for use as optical sensors for VOCs in a gaseous phase. First, sensing films composed exclusively of porphyrin molecules are discussed, followed by the materials obtained by grafting or the incorporation of porphyrins into organic and inorganic polymer matrices. Considering the growing interest in multianalyte analysis with porphyrin-based sensor arrays, special attention is devoted to this area.