Functional Porous Carboxymethyl Cellulose/Cellulose Acetate Composite Microspheres: Preparation, Characterization, and Application in the Effective Removal of HCN from Cigarette Smoke

• Main Authors: Peijian Sun, Song Yang, Xuehui Sun, Yipeng Wang, Lining Pan, Hongbo Wang, Xiaoyu Wang, Jizhao Guo, Cong Nie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-01-01
• Series: Polymers
• Subjects: porous microspheres; carboxymethyl cellulose; cellulose acetate; cupric ions; chemisorption; hydrogen cyanide; smoke yield
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/11/1/181

To selectively reduce the yield of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) in the cigarette smoke, functional porous carboxymethyl cellulose/cellulose acetate (CMC/CA) composite microspheres were prepared via the double emulsion-solvent evaporation method. Cupric ions, which have a high complexing ability toward HCN, were introduced to the CMC/CA composite microspheres during the fabrication process via an in situ ion cross-link method. The microspheres were characterized using nitrogen adsorption, mercury intrusion porosimetry, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The microspheres have a predominantly macroporous structure indicating weak physisorption properties, but sufficient functional cupric ion groups to selectively adsorb HCN. With these CMC/CA microspheres as filter additives, the smoke yield of HCN could be reduced up to 50%, indicating the great potential of these microspheres as absorbents for removing HCN from cigarette smoke.