Exciton spectra and the microscopic structure of self-assembled porphyrin nanotubes Vlaming, S. M.; Augulis, R.; Stuart, M. C. A.; Knoester, J.; van Loosdrecht, P. H. M. Take-down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.Downloaded from the University of Groningen/UMCG research database (Pure): http://www.rug.nl/research/portal. For technical reasons the number of authors shown on this cover page is limited to 10 maximum. Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands ReceiVed: September 16, 2008; ReVised Manuscript ReceiVed: December 11, 2008 The optical properties of tubular aggregates formed by self-assembly of zwitterionic meso-tetra(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin (TPPS 4 ) molecules are studied through a combination of experimental and theoretical techniques. The interest in these systems, with diameters of 18 nm and lengths extending up to micrometers, derives from their strong interaction with light and their similarity to natural light-harvesting systems for photosynthesis. The absorption and linear dichroism spectra are obtained in the spectral region from 300 to 750 nm, which includes the exciton bands deriving from the molecular B (Soret) as well as the Q transitions. We demonstrate that a Frenkel exciton model which takes into account the four dominant molecular excited states (B x , B y , Q x , and Q y ) provides a good global fit to the experimental spectra. From comparison between theory and experiment, we propose a detailed molecular structure within the nanotube.