Bordering power Europe? The mobility-bordering nexus in and by the European Union

The EU has been built on the idea that enhanced transnational relations and free movement of persons between Member States have a positive impact on international cooperation and security. However, what we have witnessed in the past decade is a growing pressure to limit mobility, reinvigorated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Calls for a strengthened Schengen area go together with the externalization of European borders and the involvement of third states, but also with the reintroduction of border functions between Member States. Inside the EU free movement has been reduced if not stopped for fear of terrorism, irregular migration or the spread of viruses. Meanwhile, new techniques to govern mobility have emerged, affecting the role and meaning of borders. This article focuses on three dynamics of this process that entail a transformation of sovereignty, territoriality and rights: the externalization of borders, internal rebordering and logistification. The article argues that by focusing on what borders do rather than discussing what borders are, we can observe a more comprehensive transformation of borders within, around and outside the EU, a transformation that goes beyond the Westphalian imaginary and the simplistic alternative between hard and soft borders

Development of Highly Bendable Transparent Window Electrodes Based on MoOx, SnO2, and Au Dielectric/Metal/Dielectric Stacks: Application to Indium Tin Oxide (ITO)-Free Perovskite Solar Cells

Indium-doped tin oxide (ITO) is the transparent conductive material of choice for a wide range of optoelectronic devices such as sensors, light-emitting diodes, and solar cells. However, its brittle nature, high cost, scarcity as well as aggressive deposition via sputtering determine the need to find cheap alternatives with high optical transparency, low sheet resistance, and mechanical flexibility. Dielectric/metal/dielectric (D/M/D) electrodes fulfill all these requirements and are deposited via low embodied energy low-temperature processing. We developed D/M/D multilayered electrodes based on thermally evaporated MoOx or solution-processed SnO2 seed layers, a thermally evaporated ultrathin Au film, and a spin-coated SnO2 top layer on rigid glass substrates. We first systematically unraveled the role of each layer on the resistance-transmittance properties of the full D/M/D electrode structure. By optimizing the thickness of the seed, metal, and the top layer, we obtained electrodes with transmittance of 72% at 550 nm and a minimum sheet resistance of similar to 9 omega sq(-1). Subsequently, these optimized multilayered stacks were employed as bottom electrodes for perovskite solar cells (PSC) with glass/D/M/D/mesoporous-TiO2/CH3NH3PbI3/spiro-MeOTAD/Au device architecture, delivering power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of 10.7%. Further, we deposited and characterized D/M/D electrodes on flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films, achieving a maximum PCE of 7.6%. The difference in performance compared to rigid glass devices can be ascribed to the different wetting of the active layer on PET substrates. Flexible D/M/D electrodes displayed excellent mechanical properties compared to commercial PET/ITO, showing completely stable sheet resistance after repeated bending even down to 1.5 mm of curvature radius, whereas PET/ITO showed one order of magnitude increase in sheet resistance in the same mechanical test, due to formation of cracks in the conductive oxide. Our optimized D/M/D stacks on glass and especially on PET or other types of flexible substrates are therefore excellent alternatives to ITO as transparent window electrodes for low-cost, light-weight, and conformal optoelectronics applications

The European Migration System and Global Justice. A First Appraisal

Migration is at the heart of the current political debate in Europe. Moreover, the migration crisis has disclosed a number of normative and ethical issues connected to the current management of migration in the EU. This report provides a preliminary insight into the EU’s policy on migration. It looks specifically at the terms the EU chooses, the definitions it devises and the concepts and understandings it endorses in its migration policies. In order to grasp the actual working of an emerging EU Migration System of Governance (EUMSG), the same terms, concepts and definitions are also examined with reference to a set of national cases: Italy, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Hungary, Greece and Norway

PIXE and ToF-SIMS analysis of streaker samplers filters

This paper presents methodological innovations introduced in the characterisation of urban aerosol collected in Italy in a recent campaign. Two complementary ion beam analysis (IBA) techniques were used to analyse Nuclepore filters used in continuous streaker samplers to collect airborne particles in four Italian towns. Na to Pb elemental concentrations were obtained by particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE), while time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) produced, on the same samples, time trends for several elements and molecular fragments. In addition, light attenuation measurements were used as a tracer for black carbon. The data produced by these three techniques was merged into a unique data set to address the characterisation of particulate matter sources. Correlations between elemental concentration trends (PIXE) and relative trends for molecular fragments (ToF-SIMS) and black carbon (light attenuation) have been studied by cluster and principal component analysis