Patent ID: 8829183

Claim:
A method for forming a nanostructured molecular unit, comprising: mixing at least one cationic porphyrin in a first solvent, said cationic porphyrin comprising ethanolic substituent species, and at least one anionic porphyrin in a second solvent, said anionic porphyrin comprising sulfonate substituent species, forming by self-assembly a nanostructured molecular unit with a morphology comprising four dendritic elements connected at a central node; wherein the at least one cationic porphyrin is selected from a group consisting of zinc(II) tetrakis(N-ethanol-4-pyridinium)porphyrin, cobalt (III) tetrakis(N-ethanol-4-pyridinium)porphyrin, and tin(IV) tetrakis(N-ethanol-4-pyridinium)porphyrin; and wherein the at least one anionic porphyrin is selected from a group consisting of tin(IV) tetrakis(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin and zinc(II) tetrakis(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin.