Photo-catalysis

My sincere congratulations to all co-authors (International Strong Collaboration Colombia-France-Poland-China!!!) Specially to you, dearest Ahmed, for being the engine of this amazing review article, I strongly appreciate your great effort! Please stay in touch for the coming common victories!
🌊 Plastic waste is not just litter — it breaks down into micro- and nanoplastics that can move through water, soil, air, food chains, and even the human body.
Our new review explores a cleaner idea: using ultrasound, light, and catalysts to attack these tiny plastics and transform them into useful products such as hydrogen and valuable chemicals.
In simple terms: sound waves create microscopic “hot spots,” sunlight activates catalysts, and reactive species help break stubborn plastic chains.
From pollution problem to circular-economy opportunity.

https://www.photo-catalysis.org/publications/from-nano-micro-plastics-to-value-added-fuels-and-chemicals-a-review-of-mechanisms-and-future-perspectives-on-sonication-assisted-photocatalytic-upgrading

Everyone loves the slogan that “people no longer trust science.” Clean, dramatic, convenient.
But maybe the real crisis is not science itself, it is our addiction to simplistic narratives about distrust.

www.nature.com

NEWS from my group (congrats to Marta!!! well-done!!!):

How can sound and light help make chemical synthesis more sustainable?

At the 13th European Conference on Solar Chemistry and Photocatalysis: Energy and Environmental Applications (SPEA), held in Kraków from 22 to 26 June 2026, Dr. Marta Paszkiewicz-Gawron presented her research on the sonophotocatalytic dimerization of coniferyl alcohol.

Her work combines sonochemistry with sustainable catalysis and explores how energy is distributed during sonication. This innovative approach may contribute to the development of greener pathways for chemical synthesis.

The research was funded by the National Science Center under the OPUS 26 project, No. 2023/51/B/ST5/00752.

Turning Sound and Light into Greener Chemistry: Dr. Marta Paszkiewicz-Gawron at SPEA 2026 The 13th European Conference on Solar Chemistry and Photocatalysis: Energy and Environmental Applications (SPEA), Kraków, Poland, from 22 to 26 June 2026 acted as a vibrant hub for cutting-edge research in photochemistry and sustainable catalysis. This year’s event showcased standout presentatio...

Exploring complementary scientific/technological partnerships in Hong Kong (China) and sharing our science in Asia…Thank you so much to the organizers for this warm invitation, great discussions, and, more importantly, great hospitality…

Looking for disruptive partners: Prof. Dr. Colmenares in Hong Kong Prof. Dr. Juan Carlos Colmenares participated as a keynote speaker at The 4th International Conference on Bioprocess and Sustainability (ICBS2026) , which took place on June 22 – 23, 2026, in Hong Kong, China.During his lecture, Prof. Colmenares presented how solar light, ultrasound, an...

🌟 Science at its best! On 17 June 2026 our PhD candidate Asma Khan delivered a captivating seminar in the IChF Aula on Surface Interface Engineering in Constructing Multi Dimensional Functional Hybrid Piezo Photocatalysts. She explored how advanced interface design can create next generation materials for sustainable energy and environmental applications. Prof. Dr. Colmenares and the whole team are immensely proud of Asma’s work. A special thank you to the National Science Centre (NCN) for funding this research under the OPUS 26 project (No. 2023/51/B/ST5/00752). ✨

Moments of Insight: A Successful Seminar by Asma on Multi-Dimensional Hybrid Piezo-Photocatalysts We are delighted to share the success of a distinguished seminar presented by our PhD Candidate Asma Khan on 17 June 2026 at 14:00 in the IChF Aula on the topic,​“Surface-Interface Engineering in Constructing Multi-Dimensional Functional Hybrid Piezo-Photocatalysts.”The seminar provided an i...

“Science Picnic 2026 – what energy!” Thousands of families visited our stand at the PGE National Stadium to see how Marta and Dariusz from my group played with states of matter. We showed that science starts with curiosity and simple experiments. This year’s theme “Taken from life” reminded us that great discoveries are born from everyday life. Thank you to the organisers for the free celebration of science and to everyone who experimented with us. See you next year! 🧪🌱👩‍🔬👨‍🔬

Science picnic success: Marta and Dariusz inspire young minds with states of matter On 13 June 2026 the 29th Science Picnic of Polish Radio and the Copernicus Science Centre turned PGE Narodowy in Warsaw into Europe’s largest open‑air laboratory. The festival is free to enter and attracts crowds with hundreds of hands‑on demonstrations. The 2026 edition offered over 650 sh...

🌿 Plant waste became a message of hope for cleaner chemistry.
I participated as an invited speaker at NanoTech Poland 2026 & 9th NIBS in Poznań, where I presented how light, ultrasound and smart catalysts helped transform biomass-derived waste into valuable chemicals.
My lecture showed that science could turn what we usually call “waste” into useful products — with cleaner processes, smarter energy use and a stronger vision for a circular economy.
📍 Poznań, Poland
📅 June 8–11, 2026

Turning Plant Waste into Clean Chemistry: Prof. Colmenares at NanoTech Poland 2026 Prof. Dr. Juan Carlos Colmenares participated as an invited speaker at NanoTech Poland 2026 & 9th NIBS, which took place on June 8 – 11, 2026, in Poznań.During his lecture, Prof. Colmenares presented how light, ultrasound and smart catalysts helped convert plant-based waste into useful, high...

🌱 From biomass to value-added chemicals — powered by Copper@Carbon catalysts.
Sincere warm congratulations to all co-authors!!! Especially to you, dear Ahmed!, for your priceless help.
Our new review in ChemCatChem explores how copper–carbon materials can help drive greener chemical processes by combining:
🔸 Cu active sites for selective redox chemistry
🔸 Conductive porous carbon for electron transfer
🔸 Strong Cu–C synergy for stability and performance
🔸 Smart synthesis routes including hydrothermal methods, impregnation, M*F pyrolysis, and CVD
The big picture? Affordable, tunable, and future-ready catalysts for sustainable biomass conversion.
📘 New review article: Copper@Carbon Materials for Sustainable Chemical Processes: Synthesis, Function, and Future Directions

https://www.photo-catalysis.org/publications/coppercarbon-materials-for-sustainable-chemical-processes-synthesis-function-and-future-directions

Zero of 36 “widely recyclable” cups got recycled.
Stop calling this a recycling system. It is branded waste.

Why Starbucks’ cups are so hard to recycle Greenwashing covers up the broken recycling system in the US, nonprofit investigation shows

🌍 The climate crisis demands cleaner energy and chemicals. Prof. Colmenares's team at the Institute of Physical Chemistry (Polish Academy of Sciences) has spent over a decade pioneering catalysts and photoreactors that turn contaminated water and air into green hydrogen and hydrogen peroxide. Their innovations, fine-tuned nanostructured catalysts, plasmonic sonophotocatalysts, lead-free perovskites and the ReactoReQ photoreforming reactor—can replace polluting, fossil-fuel processes. By harnessing sunlight, these technologies cut up to 830 million tonnes of CO2 emissions each year and create local, safe supplies of clean fuel and natural oxidant. This is the future of energy and chemistry. Let's invest in science that brings sustainable solutions to the world. 💧⚡
https://www.photo-catalysis.org/news/colmenares-group-ushers-in-a-green-hydrogen-and-peroxide-revolution