Mainstream Smoke Gas Phase Filtration Performance of Adsorption Materials Evaluated With A Puff-by-Puff Multiplex GC-MS Method

The mainstream smoke filtration performance of activated carbon, silica gel and polymeric aromatic resins for gas-phase components was evaluated using a puff-by-puff multiplex gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis method (1). The sample 1R4F Kentucky reference cigarettes were modified by placing the adsorbents in a plug/space/plug filter configuration. Due to differences in surface area and structural characteristics, the adsorbent materials studied showed different levels of filtration activities for the twenty-six constituents monitored. Activated carbon had significant adsorption activity for all the gas-phase smoke constituents observed except ethane and carbon dioxide, while silica gel had significant activities for polar components such as aldehydes, acrolein, ketones, and diacetyl. XAD-16 polyaromatic resins showed varied levels of activity for aromatic compounds, cyclic dienes and ketones.