Sintesi e caratterizzazione di un ibrido cellulosa nanocristallina-porfirina (Synthesis and characterization of a nanocrystalline cellulose-porphyrin hybrid)

During my thesis I prepared the nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) and functionalized its surface with porphyrin derivatives. Among the different functionalization strategies I have adopted, the formation of an amide bond between nanocellulose carboxylated (NCC-COOH) and an amino trisulfonated porphyrin (TPPS3-NH2) has proved to be the most successful way. This hybrid material “NCC-TPPS3” was characterized with various instrumental techniques (UV-Vis, fluorescence, FT-IR, thermogravimetry, TEM, DLS, Z-potential). In addition, I also verified its capacity to generate singlet oxygen upon illumination and how this property is affected by the presence of β-cyclodextrin, a molecule able to form host-guest complexes with water-soluble porphyrins. The obtained results support a potential use of NCC-TPPS3 as sensitizer in photodynamic therapy.