Two Heated Tobacco Products (HTPs) with different airflow pathways were tested in this study to give insight into the aerosol formation and transfer. One permit the puffing air to flow through the tobacco rod and known as the open-ended system, while the other one sealed the tobacco rod and known as the closed-ended system. Results showed that in both systems, with the heating temperature rising, the aerosol transfer rates of nicotine, 1,2-propylene glycol (PG), and glycerol (VG) increased linearly, meanwhile the residual rates in the tobacco section decreased exponentially. In particular, lower residual rates of nicotine and PG were observed in the closed-ended system compared to open-ended system from 200 to 300 ℃, indicating a higher releasing efficiency in close-ended system. However, higher aerosol transfer rates of nicotine in the closed-ended system were noted merely among 200–260 ℃. Additionally, the transfer rates for PG remained basically the same in both systems. For nicotine, the closed-ended system exhibited lower retention rates between 200 and 240 ℃, but reversed between 260 and 300 ℃. Furthermore, the closed-ended system showed significantly higher retention rates for PG compared to the open-ended system from 200 to 300 ℃. Regarding puff-by-puff aerosol release pattern, both systems showed similar trend of increase-decrease for the same key component at identical temperature. While the single-puff release amount differed between them, for example, 3.8 mg for close-ended and 3.0 mg for open-ended of water at the second puff. Furthermore, apparent release kinetics parameters were obtained based on the first-order reaction kinetic model and the Arrhenius Equation. In the closed-ended system, lower activation energy of nicotine (26.255 KJ·mol−1 compared to 34.896 KJ·mol−1 in open-ended) resulted in lower activation energy barrier, and therefore a more efficient release and transfer rate for nicotine.
Read full abstract