Scale-up of visible light organo-photocatalytic synthesis reactions in a spinning disc reactor

•By understanding the operating envelope, productivity and reaction rate can be enhanced.•Changing substrate concentration, light uptake efficiency increases 400% for the photon-transfer-limited reaction in the SDR.•Just by modifying the surface area, light uptake efficiency increases 900% for the mass-transfer-limited reaction in the SDR.•Outdoor studies with natural sunlight showed similar results using a custom built tilting SDR.