TGA/FTIR study of the MCM-41-catalytic pyrolysis of tobacco and tobacco–glycerol mixtures

•TGA/FTIR study of the effect of MCM-41 on the pyrolysis of glycerol, tobacco and tobacco + glycerol.•The yield of volatiles is noticeably decreased if the MCM-41 is used as a tobacco additive.•The addition of MCM-41 changes in the composition of the gases obtained at each temperature.•The catalyst decreases of the yields of methane, CO, CO2 and carbonylic compounds.•The results obtained suggest than MCM-41 could be an additive in order to reduce tobacco toxicity.

In this work, the catalytic effect of MCM-41 on the qualitative composition of the gases evolved in the pyrolysis of glycerol, tobacco and tobacco–glycerol mixtures has been studied by TGA/FTIR. The results obtained reflect that the amount of volatile products obtained from tobacco or from tobacco containing mixtures is noticeably decreased if the catalyst is used as a tobacco additive. The addition of the catalyst also produces noticeable changes in the composition of the gases obtained at each temperature. Such changes are more significant in the case of the pyrolysis of the tobacco–glycerol–mixture than in the pyrolysis of tobacco. The evolution patterns for different types of compounds reveal that the catalyst contributes to a noticeable decrease of the yields of methane, CO, CO2 and carbonylic compounds, which could be interesting from the point of view of the use of MCM-41 as a tobacco additive in order to reduce tobacco smoke toxicity.