A traditional semiconductor (WO3) was synthesized from different precursors via hydrothermal crystallization targeting the achievement of three different crystal shapes (nanoplates, nanorods and nanostars). The obtained WO3 microcrystals were analyzed by the means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). These methods contributed to the detailed analysis of the crystal morphology and structural features. The synthesized bare WO3 photocatalysts were totally inactive, while the P25/WO3 composites were efficient under UV light radiation. Furthermore, the maximum achieved activity was even higher than the bare P25’s photocatalytic performance. A correlation was established between the shape of the WO3 crystallites and the observed photocatalytic activity registered during the degradation of different substrates by using P25/WO3 composites.
The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ) has been the most stable actor in the Romanian party system over the past two decades. However, in this article, we argue that beyond this apparent stability, the linkages between RMDSZ and its voters have undergone a gradual, yet significant shift. The ethnic block voting of Transylvanian Hungarians was closely connected to the concept of a self-standing and parallel “Minority Society,” and to the practices of institution building that the minority elites engaged in in the early 1990s. However, since its first participation in the Romanian government in 1996, RMDSZ has gradually departed from this strategy, a phenomenon that was also closely connected to a process of elite change within the organization. The present RMDSZ leadership puts less and less emphasis on policy programs that could reinforce the institutional system of the minority; consequently, it is unable (and unwilling) to organizationally integrate the community activists of the minority society who previously had played a key role in the process of (electoral) mobilization. At the rhetorical level, RMDSZ did not abandon the goal of building a parallel Hungarian minority society, but in its linkages to the Hungarian electorate, clientelistic exchanges have become predominant.
WO3-TiO2 composite materials were obtained using commercial titania (Evonik Aeroxide P25) and hydrothermally crystallized WO3. Different ratios of TiO2/WO3 were investigated, starting at 1 wt.% of WO3 to 50 wt.%. The morphology of WO3 was of the star-like type, and its structure is basically composed of monoclinic crystalline phase. All spectroscopic characteristics of the composites and their derived data (band-gap energy value, light absorption threshold, and IR specific bands) directly varied with the increase of the WO3 content. However, the oxalic acid photodegradation achieved under UV light reached the highest yield for 24 wt.% WO3 content, a result that was attributed to the charge separation efficiency and the surface hydrophilicity. The latter mentioned reason points out the crucial importance of the surface quality of the investigated structure in photocatalytic tests.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.