The production of chemical substances normally requires environmentally harmful solvents. After researchers had produced organic substances without harmful substances by heating them in hot water, they can now chalk up another success: Through hydrothermal synthesis, they succeeded in jointly forming and combining organic and inorganic substances in the same reaction vessel. Specifically: an inorganic solid that encloses organic dye molecules. When exposed to light, which is by and large the most environmentally friendly energy resource, the hybrid material functions like a catalyst, i.e., a photocatalyst. Since the photocatalyst is a solid, it can be used multiple times.
