The use of cellulose nanofibers to reduce harmful substances from cigarette smoke

Acetate cellulose was used as cigarette filter, whose main function is to cool and purify the cigarette smoke. Nano cellulose as a sustainable bio material seems to have high potential as it is most common bio polymer in nature and is already available in micrometers to nanometers. In this research, cigarette filters were made of cellulose nano fibers with a concentration of 1%, 2% and 3% as well as mixture of each with 5% activated carbon. For this aim, the freezing of nano cellulose suspension in liquid nitrogen was used. After placing the filters in cigarettes, the samples were tested by the smoking machine and the carbon monoxide produced by burning cigarettes was directly measured by the machine and the amount of nicotine and tar were determined by gas chromatography test. The results of carbon monoxide and tar test showed that the use of filters made with cellulose nanofibers and activated carbon in comparison with acetate cellulose filters could significantly reduce these toxic and harmful substances (59.6% and 77% respectively) however, nicotine of tested samples did not show a significant difference by control sample.