Primary investigation of the optical limiting performance of cyclo[8]pyrrole with a wide optical limiting window

Abstract

Cyclo[8]pyrrole (CP) was prepared and its UV/vis spectral and optical limiting properties for ns light pulse were investigated with Z-scan technical. Our experiments show that CP has good solubility in organic solvents, and its Q band absorption shows an obvious red shift to the NIR region at about 1100 nm compared with normal porphyrin. Studies on transient absorption spectra, photophysical parameters and optical limiting properties indicate that the compound exhibits good optical limiting performance under variable conditions. Briefly, it shows a reverse saturable absorber with the limiting threshold of 1.8 J cm⁻² at 1064 nm in dichloromethane; interestingly, it displays limiting properties at both 532 nm and 1064 nm after treatment with NaOH.