| Abstract:As the rapid development of novel tobacco products, rolling process is one of the most important manufacturing methods for reconstituted tobacco sheet, which show advantage of maintaining key component such as smoking agent. The addition of cellulose fibers is a major method to reinforce the strength of rolled reconstituted tobacco sheet. However, their reinforcing effect will be limited due to the poor dispersibility of cellulose fibers inside the sheets. In this study, carboxymethylated cellulose fibers were used as a reinforcing agent to improve the tensile strength of rolled reconstituted tobacco sheet significantly. Moreover, a comparation in reinforcing effect of various cellulose fibers (carboxymethylated fibers, beaten fibers and original fibers) on the tensile strength of the as-prepared sheets was carried out, and the results show that tobacco sheets with carboxymethylated cellulose fibers exhibit a maximum tensile strength due to the well-dispersed carboxymethylated fibers and increased number of hydrogen bonding in the sheets. When their dosage is 2.5 wt%, the strength of the reconstituted tobacco reaches 1930 N/m, which is 5.4, 3, and 2.8 times higher than that of tobacco sheets without cellulose fibers ((355 N/m), with original fibers (655 N/m) or beaten fibers (852 N/m), respectively. Our work will bring a new idea to the preparation of rolled reconstituted tobacco with excellent tensile strength. |