Interactions of porphyrins and single walled carbon nanotubes: A fine duet

•Covalent/non-covalent functionalization of carbon nanotubes with porphyrins.•Interactions of porphyrins and single walled carbon nanotubes: reciprocal probes.•Photovoltaics, catalysts and sensors of porphyrin and carbon nanotubes.•Single-walled carbon nanotubes with porphyrins as therapeutic vectors.•Nanometrological porphyrin molecules as nanoindicators of carbon nanotubes.

Supramolecular assemblies are a field of main stream investigation due to its technological and scientific importance. Porphyrins and single-walled carbon nanotubes supramolecular assemblies have drawn special attention because of the ease of assemblage and electronic and photonic interactions. Here we summarize the various applications on nanoscience and nanotechnology of porphyrin/single-walled carbon nanotube molecular assemblies. Stemming from basic physics toward medical applications we show that the molecular pair is a merry combination.