Reuse of Cigarette Filters for Energy Applications
167
where i and v were the current and potential in CV test, μ was the scan rate, m was the
mass of active material, and ΔV was the potential window of discharge. The specific
capacitances on the samples carbonized before and after filtration were found to be
138 and 417 F/g, respectively.
5 Conclusion
The major problem associated with management of used cigarette buds can be eliminated when these buds can be utilized for value-added products. An example with
PAN nanofiber filters has shown that filters made out of these membranes can be
carbonized after filtration and can be made electrochemically active to use them as
current collector, catalyst or catalyst support material, and electrode material for fuel
cells and battery manufacture. Besides, the cigarette smoke filtration performance
is enhanced in nanofiber-based filters than commercial cigarette filters by about 4.3
times described by tar-based component retention capacity. Moreover, the absorption of heavy metals like lead and arsenic was also found to be increased by more
than two times. The enhancement is due to nanofibers’ high surface area to volume
ratio than commercial cigarette filter’s microfibers, which increases tortuosity of the
architecture, allowing more fiber–smoke interaction, and thus making interceptionbased separation more efficient. Therefore, this study suggests that the cigarette filter
membranes made out of nanofibers which can be converted to porous and carbonrich fibers should further be researched. Here the reuse of efficient cigarette filter
made out of PAN fibers in terms of electrochemical energy storage is one of many
self-sustaining solutions of such filters. This study also provides an opportunity to
use filters made up of PAN nanofiber membranes for automobiles and traditional
HVAC requirements with end life usages for battery applications.
Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge Advanced Material Research Centre (AMRC), IIT
Mandi for their advanced instrumentation facility. P.G., A.K. and S.V. acknowledge scholarship
from Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), India. S. S-R. Acknowledges financial
support from DST-SERB (ECR/2017/001511)
References
1. Chiba M, Masironi R (1992) Toxic and trace elements in tobacco and tobacco smoke. Bull
World Health Organ 70(2):269
2. Stohs SJ, Bagchi D, Bagchi M (1997) Toxicity of trace elements in tobacco smoke. Inhal
Toxicol 9(9):867–890. https://doi.org/10.1080/089583797197926
3. Rodgman A, Smith CJ, Perfetti TA (2000) The composition of cigarette smoke: a retrospective,
with emphasis on polycyclic components. Hum Exp Toxicol 19(10):573–595
4. World No Tobacco Day (2018) Tobacco breaks hearts – choose health, not tobacco. Geneva:
World Health Organization; 2018 (WHO/NMH/PND/18.4). Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO
167
where i and v were the current and potential in CV test, μ was the scan rate, m was the
mass of active material, and ΔV was the potential window of discharge. The specific
capacitances on the samples carbonized before and after filtration were found to be
138 and 417 F/g, respectively.
5 Conclusion
The major problem associated with management of used cigarette buds can be eliminated when these buds can be utilized for value-added products. An example with
PAN nanofiber filters has shown that filters made out of these membranes can be
carbonized after filtration and can be made electrochemically active to use them as
current collector, catalyst or catalyst support material, and electrode material for fuel
cells and battery manufacture. Besides, the cigarette smoke filtration performance
is enhanced in nanofiber-based filters than commercial cigarette filters by about 4.3
times described by tar-based component retention capacity. Moreover, the absorption of heavy metals like lead and arsenic was also found to be increased by more
than two times. The enhancement is due to nanofibers’ high surface area to volume
ratio than commercial cigarette filter’s microfibers, which increases tortuosity of the
architecture, allowing more fiber–smoke interaction, and thus making interceptionbased separation more efficient. Therefore, this study suggests that the cigarette filter
membranes made out of nanofibers which can be converted to porous and carbonrich fibers should further be researched. Here the reuse of efficient cigarette filter
made out of PAN fibers in terms of electrochemical energy storage is one of many
self-sustaining solutions of such filters. This study also provides an opportunity to
use filters made up of PAN nanofiber membranes for automobiles and traditional
HVAC requirements with end life usages for battery applications.
Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge Advanced Material Research Centre (AMRC), IIT
Mandi for their advanced instrumentation facility. P.G., A.K. and S.V. acknowledge scholarship
from Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), India. S. S-R. Acknowledges financial
support from DST-SERB (ECR/2017/001511)
References
1. Chiba M, Masironi R (1992) Toxic and trace elements in tobacco and tobacco smoke. Bull
World Health Organ 70(2):269
2. Stohs SJ, Bagchi D, Bagchi M (1997) Toxicity of trace elements in tobacco smoke. Inhal
Toxicol 9(9):867–890. https://doi.org/10.1080/089583797197926
3. Rodgman A, Smith CJ, Perfetti TA (2000) The composition of cigarette smoke: a retrospective,
with emphasis on polycyclic components. Hum Exp Toxicol 19(10):573–595
4. World No Tobacco Day (2018) Tobacco breaks hearts – choose health, not tobacco. Geneva:
World Health Organization; 2018 (WHO/NMH/PND/18.4). Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO