Photonic crystals for applications in photoelectrochemical processes

Photonic crystal structures, that present strong light localization effects near photonic band gap frequency regions, can be very useful to maximize chemical processes of phototoactive materials. One example is the use of photonic crystals to improve solar energy harvesting in photoelectrochemical solar cells. Here, we describe the optical monitoring synthesis of macroporous materials, with inverse opal topology, made of transition metal and rare-earth oxide nanoparticles. Through the optical properties we can obtain information concerning both infiltration and over layer growth. Finally, we report on the efficiency improvement of photoelectrochemical cells when titania inverse opal topology is used.