Effects of types and contents of potassium salts on pyrolysis products of cigarette paper

In order to study the influences of the types and contents (mass fraction) of potassium salts on the pyrolysis products of cigarette paper, thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and segmented pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) were used to analyze the thermal decomposition and pyrolysis behavior of nine cigarette paper samples. The results showed that: 1) The thermal mass loss of the nine samples could be divided into four stages, and the major thermal mass loss stage occurred at 162-612 ℃. 2) With the rise of pyrolysis temperature, the number and type of pyrolysis products increased. The dominant pyrolysis products at 350 ℃ were ketones, aldehydes, acids, esters and alcohols, and those at 550 ℃ were ketones, aldehydes, acids, alcohols and phenols. 3) The differences in the type and contents of potassium salts influenced the pyrolysis products at the first stage (50-350 ℃) to different extents, and slightly affected the pyrolysis products at the second stage (350-550 ℃). Generally, the cigarette paper additives, such as potassium hydrogen malate, potassium tartrate and potassium citrate produced more pyrolysis components which were beneficial to smoking taste; while adding potassium phosphate and potassium acetate would increase the releases of benzene, phenolic compounds and acetic acid in smoke, which might not be conducive to smoking taste.