Rheological property of reconstituted tobacco coatings

- Reconstituted tobacco coating (RTC) improves quality of reconstituted tobacco sheet (RTS).
- Effects of rheological agents on RTC rheological properties were studied.
- Rheological properties of RTC were studied at low-medium and high shear rate.
- H-B flow model is the best among the models studied in describing RTC flow behavior.
- SEM analysis showed that 0.1% rheological agent loading ensured a good RTS surface.

Reconstituted tobacco sheets are widely used in the tobacco industries to reduce the harm of cigarettes and considered as a comprehensive utilization method for tobacco wastes. Reconstituted tobacco coating is one of the core technologies determining the reconstituted tobacco sheet quality. The main component of reconstituted tobacco coating is water extracts from tobacco wastes. The effects of different dosages (0.1%, 0.3% and 0.5%) of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and cationic guar gum (CGG) on the properties of coatings were studied. Reconstituted tobacco coating exhibited a prominent shear-thinning property at the condition of low-medium and high shear rates. Classical flow models Herschel-Bulkley (H-B), Power-law and Cross models were used to analyze the coating rheological properties. At the condition of low-medium and high shear rates, H-B and Power-law model were more satisfactory to describe the flow behavior than Cross model. SEM analysis showed that when the dosage of rheological agent (CMC) was 0.1%, reconstituted tobacco sheet obtained good coating surface structure.