Development of Biodegradable Cigarette Filter Material from Micro-fibers (Part 2) - Fabrication of Cigarette Filter and its Characteristics

Cellulose acetate, a raw material for cigarette filters, causes significant environmental pollution because it is not easily decomposed in nature. Thus, various efforts have been made to develop eco-friendly filter materials from biomass that can replace cellulose acetate. A cross-linking approach between polymeric chains in a polymer creates a three-dimensional mesh network and the resulting material could be used as a filter material. In this study, to create such a mesh structure, non-toxic glycerol diglycidyl ether was used as a cross-linking agent with five different microfibers having different particle sizes and lignin contents. The morphological, mechanical and physical properties of the cross-linked filters produced were characterized to identify the most suitable raw materials for cigarette filter production. The mesh structure of E-CNF (enzyme-cellulose nanofibrils) revealed the maximum strength properties whereas KOP (kneaded organosolv pulp) produced a better structure in water-holding and recovery abilities with different pore formations. In the 72 h enzymatic biodegradation test, a commercial cigarette filter revealed a 6.5% weight loss but L-MFC (lignin rich-microfibrillated cellulose) showed the maximum biodegradation rate of 74.7%. In addition, filter structures with E-CNF, KOP and L-MFC revealed remarkable cadmium adsorption properties. These results indicated that the pore structure from cross-linked microfibers can be used as filter material.