Physical properties and thermal behavior of reconstituted tobacco sheet with precipitated calcium carbonate added in the coating process

Addition of precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) to cellulosic products can reduce production costs and modify their physical properties. This study investigated the effects of adding PCC on the properties of reconstituted tobacco sheet (RTS), a cellulosic product. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis showed that adding PCC to the coating could modify the surface microstructure of RTS. With increasing PCC addition, the strength and tar release per cigarette of RTS decreased. However, the filling capacity, bulk, and CO release content in the mainstream smoke reached optimal values when the proportion of PCC in the coating was 8%. Thermogravimetry (TG) and differential thermogravimetry (DTG) analysis indicated that the main thermal pyrolysis stage occurred in the range of 200–400 °C, similar to cellulosic components. The Coats–Redfern equation was used to analyze the thermal pyrolysis mechanism. The fitting results showed that, in the range of 200–280 °C, the best fit model for RTS with 4 or 8% PCC was diffusion-controlled reaction (D1) with fitting correlation coefficient (r ²) of 0.9630 and 0.9576, respectively. Meanwhile, in the range of 280–400 °C, the most reliable fitting model for RTS with 4% PCC was chemical reaction (F2) with r ² = 0.9681. One reaction model could not describe the thermal pyrolysis of RTS with 12% PCC in the main decomposition stage. The thermal kinetic parameters suggested that addition of PCC to RTS coatings could modify the thermal pyrolysis mechanism, but did not change the peak temperatures in the main thermal decomposition stage. This study demonstrates that addition of PCC to RTS coating is a promising method to improve its quality.