Volatile products formed in the thermal decomposition of a tobacco substrate

The identification and quantification of volatile species formed in the thermal degradation of tobacco substrates was investigated by TG-FTIR analysis. A specific experimental methodology was developed to obtain quantitative data on key components of interest present in evolved gases during TG-FTIR runs in air and nitrogen at low heating rates. Multivariate deconvolution techniques were used to identify the contributions of the key components of interest to the overall FTIR spectra. Validation runs were carried out to test the limits of the TG-FTIR technique. Significant data were obtained for the quantitative characterization and the emission profiles of some key components of evolved gases, such as acetaldehyde, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nicotine, and water. A different experimental strategy based on the use of a fixed bed reactor was applied to the characterization of glycerol evolved from the tobacco substrate, thus obtaining a complete figure of the main components of the evolved gases formed during the slow thermal decomposition of tobacco substrates in nitrogen and air. © 2013 American Chemical Society.