El modelo de valorización económica, de los resultados de investigación, desarrollo e innovación (I+D+i) de las universidades, mediante la creación de empresas spin-off, ha demostrado tener un alto índice de éxito e impacto social en diferentes países. En las universidades de Latinoamérica se está fomentando la cultura emprendedora para su creación, por los beneficios económicos que se generan para la universidad y los investigadores participantes. El objetivo del presente trabajo fue analizar el contexto nacional e internacional de las spin-off académicas, para identificar algunos de los factores que favorecen u obstaculizan su creación y éxito, como estrategia para acelerar su implementación en México. Al ser un modelo recientemente introducido al país, las spin-off académicas requieren la creación de un nuevo marco legal dentro de las universidades para establecer con claridad beneficios y compromisos de la institución y participantes, así como, favorecer su gestión, implementación y crecimiento. Además, de encaminar los resultados de I+D+i para que puedan ser comercializables, capacitar a los investigadores en emprendimiento y propiedad intelectual, aumentar la inversión en investigación privada, y generar políticas y condiciones para incrementar el número de investigadores en México.

In this work, ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized via a plant-mediated green route using Prosopis tamaulipana extract as a reducing and stabilizing agent and subsequently modified with silver to obtain Ag-modified ZnO powders. Structural and morphological characterization techniques confirmed the formation of nanocrystalline ZnO with a hexagonal wurtzite structure, submicrometric agglomerates composed of nanosized primary particles and a high degree of phase purity, indicating the effectiveness of the synthesis approach. The photocatalytic performance of the Ag-modified ZnO materials was evaluated under natural solar irradiation using methylene blue as a model organic contaminant in aqueous solution. Visual observations, together with absorbance, temperature and electrical conductivity measurements, demonstrated an effective and progressive degradation of the dye over a 5 h irradiation period. The observed increase in electrical conductivity under illumination was associated with enhanced charge carrier generation and improved separation efficiency, as well as the formation of reactive oxygen species, promoted by the presence of Ag as an electron sink. These results confirm that green-synthesized Ag-modified ZnO nanoparticles exhibit enhanced photocatalytic activity and are promising multifunctional materials for sustainable water sanitation applications.

Microlasers are innovative photonics devices that have recently attracted attention for their unique characteristics, including compactness, broad spectral emission, and low lasing threshold. These properties are beneficial in biophotonics as these lasers can interact with biological materials without causing damage, especially for optical biosensing applications. Among the optical materials recently used as gain media in microlasers are organic dyes, rare-earth ions, fluorescent proteins, and semiconductors, including quantum dots and perovskites. Moreover, different optical cavities and current laser configurations have increased the versatility of microlasers. Recently, digital sensing methods based on novel algorithms, machine learning, and neural networks have been combined with microlaser systems to enhance their accuracy and expand their applications. This work provides a comprehensive review of recent progress in microlasers, covering gain media, microcavity types, and their applications in biophotonics, including conventional spectral-based sensing and new digital approaches for the biomedical field.

Titanium dioxide can be employed in different photocatalytic and solar energy conversion applications due to its abundance, non-toxicity, and chemical stability. Undoped and Cu-doped TiO2 powders were synthesized using the powder method. The characteristics of the prepared photocatalysts-material were determined by XRD, SEM, absorbance and chemical analysis. XRD analysis showed the formation of TiO2 in its anatase and rutile phases. Sphere-like shapes with sizes of 100 nm were inferred from SEM images. The photocatalytic tests revealed that the Cu-doped TiO2 nanoparticles exhibited high photocatalytic activity in degrading contaminated water. This enhancement can be attributed to the formation of oxygen vacancies, which promote the photodegradation of organic compounds.

Photocatalysis is a process in which a material utilizes light energy to degrade contaminants through oxidation reactions that decompose impurities upon contact with its surface. Titanium dioxide is one of the most widely used semiconductor materials due to its abundance, chemical stability, and non-toxicity. However, its relatively wide bandgap restricts its photocatalytic activity to the ultraviolet region of the solar spectrum, limiting its overall efficiency under natural sunlight. The incorporation of copper nanoparticles into the TiO₂ matrix enhances light absorption by extending its activity into the visible range, thereby improving its energy conversion efficiency. In this study, undoped and Cu-doped TiO₂ powders were synthesized using the mechanochemical method. The characteristics of the prepared photocatalyst material were determined by XRD, SEM, absorbance, and chemical analysis. XRD analysis showed the formation of TiO₂ in its anatase and rutile phases. Sphere-like shapes with a size of 100 nm were inferred from SEM images. The photocatalytic tests revealed that the Cu-doped TiO₂ nanoparticles exhibited high photocatalytic activity in degrading contaminated water. This enhancement can be attributed to the formation of oxygen vacancies, which promote the photodegradation of organic compounds.