Increasing advertising power via written scent references

Olfactory cues in advertisements can evoke positive consumer emotions and product attitudes, yet including real scent in advertising is not always feasible. This study aimed at investigating whether written scent references could produce effects similar to real scents. Participants in online experiment (N=197) evaluated advertisings for two products (a pen and a soap) with or without scent references. The results demonstrated that the written scent reference had positive effects on consumer emotions and attitudes towards both products. These results suggest that including scent reference in advertising may positively influence attitudes towards a product without attracting consumers’ full attention

A general method for the synthesis of nanostructured large-surface-area materials through the self-assembly of functionalized nanoparticles

A general synthetic method for the preparation of nanostructured materials with large surface area was developed by using nanoparticle building blocks. The preparation route involves the self-assembly of functionalized nanoparticles in a liquid-crystal phase. These nanoparticles are functionalized by using difunctional amino acid species to provide suitable interactions with the template. Optimum interactions for self-assembly of the nanoparticles in the liquid-crystal phase were achieved with one -NH2 group anchored to the nanoparticle surface per 25 Å2. To maximize the surface area of these materials, the wall thicknesses are adjusted so that they are composed of a monolayer of nanoparticles. To form such materials, numerous parameters have to be controlled such as the relative volume fraction of the nanoparticles and the template and size matching between the hydrophilic component of the copolymer and nanoparticles. The surface functionalization renders our synthetic route independent of the nanoparticles and allows us to prepare a variety of nanostructured composite materials that consist of a juxtaposition of different discrete oxide nanoparticles. Examples of such materials include CeO2, ZrO2, and CeO2–Al(OH)3 composites

HVDC links between North Africa and Europe: Impacts and benefits on the dynamic performance of the European system

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of the following article: Mokhtar Benasla, Tayeb Allaoui, Mostefa Brahami, Mouloud Denai, and Vijay K. Sood, ‘HVDC links between North Africa and Europe: Impacts and benefits on the dynamic performance of the European system’, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, November 2017. Under embargo. Embargo end date: 20 November 2018. The published version is available online at doi: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.10.075. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This manuscript version is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.In the last decade, there have been several initiatives for the deployment of cross-Mediterranean HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current) links to enable the transmission of electrical power from renewable energy sources between North Africa and Europe. These initiatives were mainly driven by the potential economic, environmental and technical benefits of these HVDC interconnections. In previous studies on these projects, some technical aspects of critical importance have not been addressed or studied in sufficient detail. One of these key aspects relates to the impact and possible benefit of these HVDC links on the dynamic performance of the European system which is the major focus of this paper. Several issues relating to the dynamic performance of the system are addressed here. Based on the experience gained from existing AC/DC projects around the world, this paper shows that the HVDC links between North Africa and Europe can greatly improve the dynamic performance of the European system especially in the southern regions. In addition, some challenges on the operation and control of these HVDC links are highlighted and solutions to overcome these challenges are proposed. This review paper, therefore, serves as a preliminary study for further detailed investigation of specific impacts or benefits of these interconnections on the overall performance of the European system.Peer reviewe

Hierarchical porosity in self-assemhled polymers:Post-modification of block copolymer-phenolic resin complexes hy pyrolysis allows the control of micro- and mesoporosity

It is shown that self-assembled hierarchical porosity in organic polymers can be obtained in a facile manner based on pyrolyzed block-copolymer–phenolic resin nanocomposites and that a given starting composition can be post-modified in a wide range from monomodal mesoporous materials to hierarchical micro-mesoporous materials with a high density of pores and large surface area per volume unit (up to 500–600 m2 g–1). For that purpose, self-assembled cured composites are used where phenolic resin is templated by a diblock copolymer poly(4-vinylpyridine)-block-polystyrene (P4VP-b-PS). Mild pyrolysis conditions lead only to monomodal mesoscale porosity, as essentially only the PS block is removed (length scale of tens of nanometers), whereas during more severe conditions under prolonged isothermal pyrolysis at 420 °C the P4VP chains within the phenolic matrix are also removed, leading to additional microporosity (sub-nanometer length scale). The porosity is analyzed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), small-angle X-ray scattering, electron microscopy tomography (3D-TEM), positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS), and surface-area Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) measurements. Furthermore, the relative amount of micro- and mesopores can be tuned in situ by post modification. As controlled pyrolysis leaves phenolic hydroxyl groups at the pore walls and the thermoset resin-based materials can be easily molded into a desired shape, it is expected that such materials could be useful for sensors, separation materials, filters, and templates for catalysis.