Nonlinear optical and optical limiting properties of graphene hybrids covalently functionalized by phthalocyanine

Nonlinear optical and optical limiting properties of three graphene materials (pure graphene, graphene oxide, reduced graphene oxide) covalently functionalized by zinc phthalocyanine were studied in nanosecond and femtosecond regimes. In nanosecond regime, reduced graphene oxide–phthalocyanine hybrid shows better optical limiting effect than the other two hybrids. In femtosecond regime, graphene oxide–phthalocyanine shows the best nonlinear optical properties among the three hybrid materials. Based on Z-scan and transient absorption measurements, the mechanisms for nonlinear optical property were analyzed for these materials. Compared with the other two hybrids, reduced graphene oxide–phthalocyanine hybrid is a better candidate in the application of optical limiter.