Publication date: 15th December 2025
Herein, we report a novel approach to enhance the photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants under visible light mediated by nanocrystalline TiO₂ (nc-TiO2) films1. This enhancement results from embedding a nc-TiO₂ film in a Fabry–Perot optical resonator. This approach significantly improve the nc-TiO₂ absorption in the visible range, enabling efficient activation under narrowband LED illumination and simulated solar light. The nanoporous system allows infiltration of methylene blue aqueous solutions, providing a versatile platform for environmental remediation. Photodegradation kinetic was systematically studied at different wavelengths (385 nm, 405 nm), revealing an improvement up to 200% of the kinetic constant compared to conventional TiO₂ films. It was found that the incidence angle critically influences the coupling between resonator optical modes and LED irradiance, offering a new degree of control over photocatalytic performance. Photodegradation kinetics of methylenen blue under a solar simulator were also studied, revealing a higher rate in the case of the optical cavity. This work illustrates how optical engineering can synergize with material chemistry to advance light-driven pollutant degradation. Our findings demonstrate that optical resonator-assisted TiO₂ films effectively overcome the inherent limitations of conventional photocatalysts under visible light. This strategy opens up new opportunities for efficient solar-driven water treatment and a range of other environmental remediation applications by tailoring absorption through resonant structures and optimising illumination parameters.
1 B. de Sola, L. Caliò, M. Romero, M. Herrera-Collado, M. Calvo, H. Míguez. Nanocrystallline TiO2 based Fabry Pérot Resonators for Enhanced Visible Light Photocatalysis. In preparation.
These results are part of grant PRE2021-098085, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and FSE+. Financial support was also received from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation under grants PID2020-116593RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033, and PID2023-149344OB-I00 funded by MCIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and FEDER, EU.
nanoGe is a prestigious brand of successful science conferences that are developed along the year in different areas of the world since 2009. Our worldwide conferences cover cutting-edge materials topics like perovskite solar cells, photovoltaics, optoelectronics, solar fuel conversion, surface science, catalysis and two-dimensional materials, among many others.
Previously nanoGe Spring Meeting (NSM) and nanoGe Fall Meeting (NFM), MATSUS is a multiple symposia conference focused on a broad set of topics of advanced materials preparation, their fundamental properties, and their applications, in fields such as renewable energy, photovoltaics, lighting, semiconductor quantum dots, 2-D materials synthesis, charge carriers dynamics, microscopy and spectroscopy semiconductors fundamentals, etc.
International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics
International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics (HOPV) is celebrated yearly in May. The main topics are the development, function and modeling of materials and devices for hybrid and organic solar cells. The field is now dominated by perovskite solar cells but also other hybrid technologies, as organic solar cells, quantum dot solar cells, and dye-sensitized solar cells and their integration into devices for photoelectrochemical solar fuel production.
Asia-Pacific International Conference on Perovskite, Organic Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics
The main topics of the Asia-Pacific International Conference on Perovskite, Organic Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics (IPEROP) are discussed every year in Asia-Pacific for gathering the recent advances in the fields of material preparation, modeling and fabrication of perovskite and hybrid and organic materials. Photovoltaic devices are analyzed from fundamental physics and materials properties to a broad set of applications. The conference also covers the developments of perovskite optoelectronics, including light-emitting diodes, lasers, optical devices, nanophotonics, nonlinear optical properties, colloidal nanostructures, photophysics and light-matter coupling.
The International Conference on Perovskite Thin Film Photovoltaics Perovskite Photonics and Optoelectronics (NIPHO) is the best place to hear the latest developments in perovskite solar cells as well as on recent advances in the fields of perovskite light-emitting diodes, lasers, optical devices, nanophotonics, nonlinear optical properties, colloidal nanostructures, photophysics and light-matter coupling.