The banking-industry relationship in Italy: large national banks and small local banks compared (1913-1936)

Using a large dataset of Italian joint-stock companies, this article analyses the networks of corporate interlocks of the major universal banks and twenty most ‘central’ local banks in a critical period of Italian industrialisation. The networks of the two types of banks were largely independent, with universal banks being affiliated principally to larger concerns in electricity, transport and storage, and financials; and local banks to riskier, younger and smaller firms in light manufacturing. The article then explores whether the bank-industry relationship in Italy reflected the hegemony of banks and followed a bank-control model. Our analysis does not support that view. It rather indicates that interlocking directorates were driven principally by a convergence of interests between banks (monitoring customers) and industrial firms (interested in tapping capital and credit flows), with the latter exerting a slightly higher influence over the former. This significantly differentiates Italy from Germany and the USA, where banks had a more dominant position in the corporate system

Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs) modified electrodes: Effect of purification and functionalization on the electroanalytical performances

Different modified electrodes were prepared using multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) prepared and purified according to different procedures. Since MWCNTs purification and functionalization is a key point for the electroanalytical performance of the final devices, MWCNTs were previously characterized from the morphological, surface and electrochemical point of view. Different parameters, such as surface area, pore volume, mesoporosity (responsible of thin layer diffusion mechanism), covalent acidity, charge transfer resistance, amorphous impurities contribute to the final performances in terms of higher currents and more reversible behaviour. The best purification method consists in a treatment in sulphonitric mixture for 24 h with the removal of amorphous carbon. The new modified electrodes were successfully employed in the detection of o-toluidine, a hazardous and toxic water pollutant, reaching a sensitivity of 9.2 μA cm−2 ppm−1, a limit of detection of 0.16 ppm and apparent recovery factors very close to 100%. Their application in a complex matrix to monitor o-toluidine, during its photocatalytic removal by ZnO nanopowders, was also investigated.This work was supported by INSTM and Regione Lombardia (agreement signed on 13/11/2012).Peer Reviewe

Effect of the Preparation Procedure on the Morphology of Thin TiO2 Films and Their Device Performance in Small-Molecule Bilayer Hybrid Solar Cells

Flat titanium dioxide films, to be used as the acceptor layer in bilayer hybrid solar cell devices, were prepd. by spray pyrolysis and by spin casting. Both prepn. methods resulted in anatase titania films with similar optical and electronic properties but considerably different film morphologies. Spray pyrolysis resulted in dense TiO2 films grown onto and affected by the surface roughness of the underlying conducting glass substrates. The spin-casting prepn. procedure resulted in nanoporous titania films. Hybrid solar cell devices with varying layer thickness of the small-mol. semiconducting dye TDCV-TPA were investigated. Devices built with spray-pyrolyzed titania substrates yielded conversion efficiencies up to 0.47%. Spin-cast titania substrates exhibited short circuits for thin dye layer thickness. For thicker dye layers the performance of these devices was up to 0.6% due to the higher interfacial area for charge sepn. of these nanoporous TiO2 substrates

Hazardous o-toluidine mineralization by photocatalytic bismuth doped ZnO slurries

Photocatalytic mineralization of o-toluidine in aqueous media under UV/solar irradiation was achieved by bare and bismuth doped zinc oxide nanoparticles. By adopting different analytical approaches a reaction mechanism is proposed, explaining the differences in photodetoxification performances.Peer Reviewe

Photo-mineralization of noxious o-toluidine water pollutant by nano-ZnO: The role of the oxide surface texture on the kinetic path

Highly toxic o-toluidine pollutant was photo-degraded in water by using ZnO nanoparticles. The tested powders were both commercial and laboratory-made, the latter obtained by means of two innovative synthetic procedures. The disappearance and the relative mineralization of the molecule were followed by HPLC/UV and TOC determinations, respectively. Intermediate products were identified by coupling LC/MS of the eluate after 3 h of reaction and ATR-FTIR analyses of the used ZnO powders at the end of photocatalytic tests. Selected degradation paths, characterized by different kinetic degradation rates, can be suggested as a function of the different surface texture, the effective photocatalytic active area and the e−/h+ recombination processes of the ZnO particles.Peer Reviewe

Role of the Nitrogen Source in Determining Structure and Morphology of N‑Doped Nanocrystalline TiO₂

The photocatalytic activity of N-doped nanostructured TiO₂ (TiO₂:N) in the visible region strongly depends on the close, yet not fully understood, interplay among crystal structure distortions, nature, and concentration of lattice defects and bulk electronic states. In this work, we study correlations among the chemical identity of the nitrogen source and the microscopic features of biphasic (anatase: brookite) TiO₂:N nanoparticles through a broad starting doping range. Triethylamine, urea, and ammonia were considered as independent nitrogen supplies. Synchrotron X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements confirmed the presence of nitrogen within the nanoparticles, while X-ray powder diffraction experiments performed at both synchrotron light sources and conventional laboratory-based instruments found that the dopant monotonically lengthens the cell edge module |<b>c</b>| along the unique <i>C</i>₄-axis, until a plateau is reached for starting N/Ti ratios greater than 0.2. The chemical nature of the precursor determines (i) the morphology of the powder at the mesoscale, (ii) the actual magnitude of the maximum lengthening of the <b>c</b>-vector module, and (iii) the anatase phase enrichment. Overall, we found useful hints on possible routes to control and tailor one or more of the specific features of the material (polymorph enrichment, dopant levels, surface area)

Role of Pr on the Semiconductor Properties of Nanotitania. An Experimental and First-Principles Investigation

Nanostructured praseodymium doped titania (Pr-TiO₂) samples were obtained in the 7–10 nm range starting from a classical sol–gel synthesis, and the effects of the dopant on the semiconductor properties have been extensively studied. The materials, synthesized at various nominal Pr/Ti molar ratios (0.2, 0.3, 0.5, and 0.7%), were investigated by X-ray powder diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, UV–vis spectroscopy, N₂ adsorption–desorption isotherm, and EDX analysis. A complete photoelectrochemical characterization was also carried out by means of photocurrent and photovoltage measurements. It was found that Pr doping induces high crystallinity and sometimes slows the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes in TiO₂, modifying the absorption spectra with specific features in the visible region. The effects of the dopant on the band energy level, surface area, pore volume, and crystal size of the Pr-TiO₂ samples were systematically investigated as well. The experimental picture was implemented by plane-wave bulk DFT calculations that allowed us to reach a thorough and complete understanding of the energy states originating from the dopant in the bandgap and provided important insights into the interplay among structural and electronic degrees of freedom in the lattice. In particular, strong evidence emerged that the foreign Pr ion should be present as substitutional in the titania lattice and electronic photoexcitation enhancements are generated by the presence of f orbitals just below the conduction band. Therefore, nanostructured Pr-TiO₂ can be considered to be a promising photocatalytic material

About the Nitrogen Location in Nanocrystalline N-Doped TiO₂: Combined DFT and EXAFS Approach

N-doped titanium dioxide is one of the most promising materials for photocatalysis in the visible region. The exact location of nitrogen in the host lattice is still under debate. Here, we synthesized a series of N-doped titania nanoparticles. Average Ti nearest neighbors distances were obtained from EXAFS experiments and compared with DFT calculations at different levels of theory. The comparison shows that N substitutes oxygen at low levels of doping, whereas oxygen vacancy creation is observed at higher dopant concentrations. Overall, this article illustrates a general method for bulk characterization based on DFT and EXAFS approaches, which can be extended to several systems