Intermolecular forces and assembly strategies in porphyrin-based electrochemiluminescence: Mechanisms and future prospects

The exploration of innovative luminophores is critical for enhancing the efficiency and stability of electrochemiluminescence (ECL). Porphyrins, with their superior optical and electrical properties, have emerged as promising organic ECL emitters. The tunable functional groups of the porphyrins facilitate their assembly into ordered structures, thereby reducing aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) and achieving desirable photophysical properties. This review introduces the effect of central metal and peripheral substituents of porphyrins on their ECL properties. It then summarizes various assembly strategies for developing enhanced porphyrin-based ECL emitters, focusing on the intermolecular forces introduced by the porphyrin ring, the central metal and peripheral substituents. By correlating characterization and ECL results, the structure-activity relationship between porphyrin assembly structure and ECL performance is analyzed, providing significant reference and guidance for the future design of organic ECL emitters. Finally, current challenges and future perspectives for the construction of porphyrin-based ECL emitters are discussed.