EP4503969A1

EP4503969A1 - A composition comprising an aerosol-generating material and sorbent material, and uses thereof

Info

Publication number: EP4503969A1
Application number: EP23717621.9A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Robert Press; Jeremy Campbell; Stuart Martin; John Richardson; Matthew Hodgson
Original assignee: Nicoventures Trading Ltd
Current assignee: Nicoventures Trading Ltd
Priority date: 2022-04-01
Filing date: 2023-03-31
Publication date: 2025-02-12
Also published as: GB202204790D0; WO2023187397A1; US20250212933A1; JP2025510838A

Abstract

The invention relates to a composition comprising an aerosol-generating material comprising a dried precursor material comprising an extract from a flavour- and/or active-containing plant material and optionally an aerosol-former material, and a sorbent material. The compositions may be used to generate an aerosol. For example, the compositions may be used in combustible or non-combustible aerosol-provision systems. The invention also relates to aerosol-provision systems comprising the composition, and methods of providing a composition.

Description

A composition comprising an aerosol-generating material and sorbent material, and uses thereof

Field The invention relates to a composition comprising an aerosol-generating material and a sorbent material, methods of manufacturing the composition and uses thereof.

Background

Aerosol-generating materials for use in a combustible or a non-combustible aerosol provision system may include a variety of different active substances and/ or flavours.

Factors such as the concentration of volatile active and/or flavour components in the aerosol generating materials and the stability of the aerosol-generating materials will influence the properties of the aerosol generated. Summary

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a composition comprising an aerosol-generating material comprising a dried precursor material comprising an extract from a flavour- and/or active-containing plant material, and a sorbent material.

In some embodiments, the sorbent material is more hygroscopic than the aerosolgenerating material.

In some embodiments, the sorbent material holds the absorbed or adsorbed moisture at a temperature of up to about too°C.

In some embodiments, the sorbent material comprises one or more selected from the group consisting of: silica gel, molecular sieves, activated carbon, zeolites, sodium aciylic acid, and simple salts, carbonates and hydroxides, such as alkaline earth metal or alkali metal salts, carbonates and hydrides, for example calcium chloride, sodium chloride, magnesium sulphate, potassium carbonate and sodium hydroxide

In some embodiments, the sorbent material is present on the surface of the aerosolgenerating material. In some embodiments, the sorbent material forms an incomplete coating surrounding the aerosol-generating material.

In some embodiments, particles of the sorbent material are mixed with particles of the aerosol-generating material.

In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material is in the form of particles or granules. In some embodiments, the particles or granules of the aerosol-generating material have an average size of from about i pm to about 3 mm.

In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material is in the form of agglomerates or tablets formed from particles. In some embodiments, the agglomerates or tablets of the aerosol-generating material have an average size from about 3 mm to about 20 mm. In some embodiments, the sorbent material is included in the agglomerates or tablets of the aerosol-generating material.

In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material comprises an aerosol-former material.

In some embodiments, the precursor material comprises from about 10 to about 95% by weight extract from a flavour- or active-containing plant material.

In some embodiments, the precursor material comprises from about 1 to about 36 wt% aerosol-former material.

In some embodiments, the precursor material comprises from o to about 40% by weight of an excipient. In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material comprises from about 45 to about 99% by weight dried extract from the flavour- or active-containing plant material.

In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material comprises from about 1 to about 34% by weight aerosol-former material. In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material comprises from o to about 25% by weight of an excipient.

In some embodiments, the plant material is selected from the group consisting of tobacco, eucalyptus, star anise, cocoa and hemp.

In some embodiments, the extract from a flavour- or active-containing plant material is an aqueous extract. In some embodiments, the extract from a flavour- or active-containing plant material is an aqueous tobacco extract.

In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material comprises from about 40 to about 99% by weight tobacco solids.

In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material has a water content of no more than about 5%.

In some embodiments, the composition is for use in an aerosol provision system.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an article comprising an aerosol-generating material comprising a dried precursor material comprising an extract from a flavour- and/or active-containing plant material, and a sorbent.

In some embodiments, the article comprises the composition according to the first aspect.

In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material and the sorbent are provided separately within the article.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a noncombustible aerosol-provision system comprising a composition according to the first aspect or an article according to the second aspect. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pack comprising an article comprising an aerosol-generating material comprising a dried precursor material comprising an extract from a flavour- and/or active-containing plant material, and a sorbent.

In some embodiments, the sorbent is separate from the article.

In some embodiments, the sorbent is provided in a separate item, such as a sachet or sheet.

In some embodiments, the sorbent is provided in a packaging material that is removed from the article before the article is used to generate an aerosol.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of providing a composition comprising drying a precursor material comprising an extract from a flavour- and/or active-containing plant material and an aerosol-former material to form an aerosol-generating material, and adding a sorbent material to the aerosolgenerating material. In some embodiments, the precursor material is dried by spray-diying or freeze-diying.

In some embodiments, the sorbent is added in the form of a non-continuous coating on the surface of the aerosol-generating material. In some embodiments, the adsorbent material is mixed with the dried aerosolgenerating material.

In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material is agglomerated. Brief Description of the Drawings

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side-on cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of a consumable comprising a composition as described herein; and Figure 2 is a perspective illustration of a non-combustible aerosol provision device for generating aerosol from the aerosol-generating material of the consumable shown in Figure 1. Detailed Description

An aerosol-generating material is a material that is capable of generating aerosol, for example when heated, irradiated or energized in any other way.

Conventional aerosol-generating materials which comprise tobacco material or a tobacco extract may be used in combustible and non-combustible aerosol-generating devices, including hybrid devices and tobacco heating products, to provide the user with an aerosol with an authentic tobacco taste and texture. One issue encountered with such materials is that the content of the flavour, other volatile compound(s) and nicotine decreases with storage of the aerosol-generating material, dropping off particularly towards the end of the life of the material. This is because the more volatile components, including nicotine and many flavours and aromas, are readily released from the material. Additionally, as the moisture content of the aerosol-generating material increases through moisture absorption, the release of substances such as nicotine and flavours is negatively impacted. Aerosol-generating materials that are produced using conventional methods and procedures commonly need to be used within one to three days of production. There is therefore a need to improve the shelf life of the aerosol generating material.

A further issue associated with conventional aerosol-generating materials comprising tobacco material or a tobacco extract is that the concentration of the desired components such as nicotine and flavours is relatively low. This limits the concentration of these desired components in the aerosol generated. Additionally, this means that a relatively large amount of the aerosol-generating material is needed and, accordingly, high amounts of energy are required to heat the aerosol-generating material in order to release the desired components.

The present invention relates to compositions comprising a dried or dehydrated aerosol generating material formed from an extract from a flavour- and/or active-containing plant material and sorbent material. In some embodiments, the extract is a liquid solution or suspension and it may be dried or dehydrated using a process such as spraydrying or freeze-drying. The dried or dehydrated aerosol generating material may be formed from a precursor material comprising the extract from a flavour- and/or activecontaining plant material and an aerosol-former material.

The aerosol-generating material comprising the dried extract from a flavour- and/or active-containing plant material comprises a high concentration of the flavour and/or active, with little or no material that does not contribute to the aerosol generated from the dried aerosol-generating material. As such, small amounts of the aerosolgenerating material are sufficient to generate aerosol with desired active and flavour content. Further, the aerosol may be generated with the input of relatively low levels of energy.

An additional benefit of the aerosol-generating material being used as a solid substrate is that the low water content reduces issues associated with “hot puff’, which are known in the art.

In some embodiments, the dried aerosol-generating material has a moisture content of from o to about 10%, or from o to about 5% (calculated on a wet weight basis), as measured by gas chromatography-thermal conductivity detector (GC-TCD) or Karl Fischer titration. In some embodiments, the moisture content of the dried aerosol- generating material is less than about 3 wt%, for example from about o to about 3 wt%, or from about 0.5 to about 2.5 wt %.

Karl Fischer titration is a classic method of chemical analysis for reliably determining the amount of water in a sample, and even just trace amounts. The method can be readily carried out using an automated Karl Fischer titrator. Similarly, the use of GC-

TCD is also a well-established method for reliably determining the water content in a sample.

Unless stated otherwise, references to moisture content herein are references to the moisture content as measured by Karl Fischer titration.

The dried aerosol-generating material may be hygroscopic and so measures need to be taken to ensure that the aerosol-generating material does not absorb moisture during processing, incorporation into a final product and storage in that final product prior to use. It is not usually necessary for conventional aerosol-generating materials to be protected from the moisture in the surrounding environment. This is because conventional aerosol-generating materials are not hygroscopic and not particularly sensitive to moisture. In addition, humectants such as glycerol are often included in conventional aerosol-generating materials in appropriate amounts in order to target a particular moisture level in the aerosol-generating material. The highly concentrated nature of the dried aerosol-generating material used in the present invention means that the absorption of even small amounts of moisture can be very detrimental to the properties of the aerosol-generating material and to the quality of the aerosol produced. What is more, the absorption of water can occur to such an extent that the dry powder takes on a paste-like consistency, which is undesirable in the compositions and consumables described herein.

Prevention of or reduction in absorption of water by the aerosol-generating material will also help to manage or avoid the phenomenon known as “hot puff’.

The compositions comprising the aerosol-generating material may be used in combustible or non-combustible aerosol provision systems, or in an aerosol-free delivery system.

In the present disclosure, a composition is provided in which the dried aerosol- generating material is formulated with a sorbent material. This sorbent material is intended to absorb or adsorb moisture from the environment, thus reduce the exposure of the aerosol-generating material to moisture, thus reducing the absorption of moisture by the aerosol-generating material prior to its use. The term sorbent as used herein refers to material that is hygroscopic and/or has desiccant properties. This means that the sorbent is able to absorb or adsorb water or moisture. The terms sorbent and desiccant material are used interchangeably.

In some embodiments, the hygroscopic aerosol-generating material has a moisture content of no greater than about 10% or no greater than about 5% (calculated on a wet weight basis), as measured by gas chromatography-thermal conductivity detector (GC- TCD) or Karl Fischer titration. This moisture content is stable, meaning that the moisture content of the aerosol-generating material is within this range not only when it is first prepared, but also after incorporation into an aerosol-generating article and following transport and storage. This stable moisture content is observed despite the fact that the hygroscopic aerosol-generating material would rapidly absorb moisture if exposed to the environment, even under “normal” humidity conditions. Indeed, when the aerosol-generating material is described as hygroscopic, this means that it will rapidly absorb water from the surrounding environment to significantly increase its water content. For example, upon exposure of the uncoated aerosol-generating material to the environment (for example, upon storage in an open container or the like), the moisture content rapidly increases to above 20% or above 25% (calculated on a wet weight basis), as measured by gas chromatography-thermal conductivity detector (GC-TCD) or Karl Fischer titration. The competition between the aerosol-generating material and the sorbent material or desiccant material for moisture means that the amount of moisture absorbed by the aerosol-generating material is reduced. The greater the affinity of the sorbent material or desiccant material for water, the greater the amount or moisture the sorbent or desiccant material will adsorb or absorb, and the smaller the amount of moisture that is available for the aerosol-generating material to absorb.

In some embodiments, the sorbent material is more hygroscopic than the aerosolgenerating material. For example, the Dynamic Vapour Sorption (DVS) is a gravimetric technique that may be used to measure how quickly a sample of a material absorbs water by varying the vapour concentration surrounding the sample and measuring the change in mass which this produces. DVS may be used to measure of the rate of water uptake of both the sorbent material and the aerosol-generating material. In preferred embodiments, the rate of water uptake of the sorbent material preferably being greater than that of the aerosol-generating material.

In particular, the rate of water uptake of the sorbent material or desiccant material is preferably greater than that of the aerosol-generating material at or above about 20% RH, above about 30% RH, above about 40% RH or above about 50% RH. In some embodiments, the sorbent material not only absorbs or adsorbs moisture, but will also prevent the release of this water (as vapour) in a manner that may interfere with the desired aerosol being generated by heating the aerosol-generating material. Therefore, in some embodiments, the sorbent holds onto the captured moisture whilst the aerosol-generating material is heated to form an aerosol. Thus, in some embodiments, the sorbent material holds the absorbed or adsorbed moisture at a temperature of up to about 200°C, about 25O°C, about 3OO°C, up to about 325°C, or up to about 35O°C. In other embodiments, the sorbent releases the water at a temperature of from about too°C to about 150 °C, so that it releases the water at a temperature below that at which the first puff of aerosol for inhalation by the consumer will be generated.

In some embodiments, the sorbent material is a desiccant.

Suitable sorbent materials may comprise one or more selected from the group consisting of: silica gel, molecular sieves, activated carbon, zeolites, sodium aciylic acid, and simple salts, carbonates and hydroxides, such as alkaline earth metal or alkali metal salts, carbonates and hydrides, for example calcium chloride, sodium chloride, magnesium sulphate, potassium carbonate and sodium hydroxide. These sorbent materials are suitable for inclusion in a composition that is to be heated to generate an aerosol for inhalation by a consumer. In some embodiments, the sorbent material is stable at the temperatures to which it is exposed when the composition is heated to generate an aerosol. Thus, in such embodiments, the sorbent does not decompose, melt or otherwise disintegrate when exposed to elevated temperatures during use of the compositions. Further discussion of sorbent or desiccant materials that may be used in the present invention is provided below.

In some embodiments, the composition comprises the sorbent material on the surface of the aerosol-generating material. For example, the sorbent material may form a partial or incomplete coating surrounding the aerosol-generating material. The partial or incomplete coating means that the aerosol generated by heating the aerosolgenerating material can be released from the composition and is available for inhalation. In some embodiments, the partial coating is in the form or a permeable network. This ensures that the sorbent is present on the surface of the aerosol- generating material, but that it does not prevent the volatiles generated by heating the aerosol-generating material being released. Where the sorbent material swells as it absorbs moisture, it is desirable for the coating to such that it does not become a complete coating as a result of the swelling of the sorbent material. In some embodiments, therefore, it is desirable for the coating of sorbent to be sufficiently incomplete to ensure that the aerosol-generating material is exposed and cannot be eventually completely surrounded by the sorbent material.

In some embodiments, the composition comprises sorbent material in the form of particles. These particles may, for example, be mixed with particles of the aerosol- generating material. In some embodiments, the particles of sorbent and the particles of aerosol-generating material are homogenously mixed. In other embodiments, the sorbent particles may be concentrated in one or more locations to increase their exposure to ambient moisture. This may mean that the moisture is more likely to be absorbed or adsorbed by the sorbent material than by the aerosol-generating material.

In some embodiments, the composition comprises one or more sorbent particles or granules. In some embodiments, the sorbent particles have an average size of at least about 50 nm, at least about too nm, at least about 200 nm, at least about 500 nm, at least about 1 pm, at least about 10 pm, at least about 50 pm, at least about too pm, at least about 200 pm, at least about 500 pm, at least about 600 pm, at least about 700 pm, at least about 800 pm, at least about 900 pm, or at least about 1 mm.

Additionally or alternatively, the sorbent particles have an average size of no more than about 3 mm, no more than about 2.5 mm, no more than about 2 mm, no more than about 1.5 mm, no more than about 1 mm, no more than about 900 pm, no more than about 800 pm, no more than about 700 pm, no more than about 600 pm, or no more than about 500 pm.

In some embodiments, the composition comprises an agglomerate or tablet formed from one or more particles of aerosol-generating material and one or more particles of a sorbent material. Optionally, the sorbent may be present on or at the surface of the agglomerate or tablet, or the sorbent may be more concentrated at the surface. In some embodiments, the agglomerates or tablets of aerosol-generating material and sorbent material have an average size from about 3 mm to about 20 mm. In some embodiments, the amount of sorbent material included in the composition is at least about 5% based on the total weight of the composition, at least about 10%, at least about 15%, at least about 20%, at least about 25% or at least about 30%. Alternatively or additionally, the amount of sorbent material included in the composition is no more than about 50% based on the total weight of the composition, no more than about 45%, no more than about 40%, no more than about 35%, no more than about 30%, no more than about 25% or no more than about 20%.

In some embodiments, the amount of sorbent included is from about 5 to about 40% by weight of the composition, or from about 10 to 30% by weight of the composition.

The amount of the sorbent to be included may be limited by the potential swelling of the sorbent material as it absorbs moisture. This increase in size of the sorbent will increase the volume of the composition comprising the aerosol-generating material and sorbent material. In extreme circumstances, where large amounts of sorbent are included in the composition and in an environment with a high level of moisture, the expansion of the sorbent may cause issues such as the consumable no longer fitting onto the aerosol-provision device, or the airflow through the composition being reduced and the release of the aerosol being compromised.

In some embodiments, there is provided a consumable that comprises an aerosolgenerating material comprising a dried precursor material comprising an extract from a flavour- and/or active-containing plant material and an aerosol-former material and a sorbent. These components may be provided in a composition as discussed above. Alternatively, these components may be provided separately in the consumable, but in such a manner that the sorbent still competes with the aerosol-generating material for the moisture in the environment and therefore reduces the amount of moisture absorbed by the aerosol-generating material. In some embodiments, the sorbent may be provided in or on a wrapper that surrounds the aerosol generating material in the consumable. In other embodiments, the sorbent may be incorporated into a separate section of the consumable to the aerosol-generating material. This may have the benefit of reducing the exposure of the sorbent to the high temperatures that the aerosol-generating material is heated to upon use. For example, the sorbent may be located in an adjacent section of the consumable which is not directly heated. This may be downstream or upstream of the aerosol-generating material. In some embodiments, the sorbent is included in one or more sections of the consumable that does not include the aerosol-generating material, such as a cooling element section, or a filter section.

In yet further embodiments, the sorbent may be separated or removed from the aerosol-generating material and/or from the consumable before it is used. For example, the sorbent may be located in the packaging within which the consumable is held prior to use. In some embodiments, this packaging may be a wrapper, a box or other container. The sorbent may be incorporated into the packaging material or part thereof. Alternatively, the sorbent may be provided in a separate article, such as a sachet or sheet, located with the consumable within the packaging.

The dried aerosol-generating material

The aerosol-generating material comprises a dried extract from a flavour- and/or active-containing plant material. In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material further comprises an aerosol-former material.

In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material is formed by drying a precursor material comprising an extract from a flavour- and/or active-containing plant material. The drying process is selected to retain the desired components of the precursor material and, therefore, the aerosol-generating material may comprise one or more active substances and/or flavours.

In some embodiments, the precursor material further comprises one or more aerosolformer material. Additionally or alternatively, one or more aerosol-former materials may be added to the dried precursor material to provide an aerosol-generating material with the desired aerosol-former material content.

The precursor material and/or the dried aerosol-generating material may also optionally include one or more other functional materials.

Therefore, the aerosol-generating material may comprise one or more active substances and/or flavours, and, optionally, one or more aerosol -former materials. The precursor material and/or the dried aerosol -generating material may also optionally include one or more other functional materials. The invention enjoys the advantage of an aerosol-generating material that is formulated to have an increased shelflife and so it may be easily transported and stored. Without wishing to be bound by any particular theory, it is hypothesised that the low water content of the dried aerosol-generating material reduces evaporation over time of other solvents, and reduces degradation of nicotine and/ or other volatile compounds. A low water content also inhibits microbial growth. The compositions comprising the dried aerosol-generating materials described herein are stable at a range of temperatures and humidities and have an increased shelf-life, and are therefore easy to store and transport. In some embodiments, the compositions may be stored at temperatures in the range of o-35°C. In some embodiments, the compositions may be stored at a relative humidity of up to about 50.

The aerosol-generating materials also have the advantage of having a high concentration of the desired components. This means that relatively small amounts of the aerosol-generating material are required and less energy is required to heat and release the desired components. Significantly, the aerosols generated from these materials also provide an authentic tobacco taste of reasonable strength.

A further advantage of the aerosol-generating materials is that they may be used as a solid aerosol-generating substrate in Hybrid systems or Tobacco Heating Products (THPs). This makes the invention versatile enough to be used in a range of products without the need for further processing.

In some embodiments, the extract from a flavour- or active-substance containing plant material is an extract derived by contacting the plant material with a suitable solvent, such as an aqueous solvent or an alcohol such as ethanol. The liquid portion comprising the solvent and any dissolved plant components may then be separated or partially separated from the remaining solid plant material to provide the extract to be included in the precursor composition and dried.

In some embodiments, the extract from a flavour- or active-substance containing plant material is an extract derived from tobacco material.

The tobacco extract or material may be from or may be any type of tobacco and any part of the tobacco plant, including tobacco lamina, stem, stalk, ribs, scraps and shorts or mixtures of two or more thereof. Suitable tobacco extracts or materials include the following types: Virginia or flue-cured tobacco, Burley tobacco, Oriental tobacco, or blends of tobacco materials, optionally including those listed here. The tobacco may be expanded, such as dry-ice expanded tobacco (DIET), or processed by any other means. In some embodiments, the tobacco material may be reconstituted tobacco material. The tobacco may be pre-processed or unprocessed, and may be, for instance, solid stems (SS); shredded dried stems (SDS); steam treated stems (STS); or any combination thereof. The tobacco material may be fermented, cured, uncured, toasted, or otherwise pre-treated. The tobacco material may be provided in the form of cut rag tobacco. The cut rag tobacco can have a cut width of at least 15 cuts per inch (about 5.9 cuts per cm, equivalent to a cut width of about 1.7 mm) for example. The cut rag tobacco can be formed from a mixture of forms of tobacco material, for instance a mixture of one or more of paper reconstituted tobacco, leaf tobacco, extruded tobacco and bandcast tobacco. The precursor material which is dried to form the aerosol-generating material may comprise at least about 10 wt%, at least about 15 wt%, at least about 20 wt%, at least about 25 wt%, at least about 30 wt%, at least about 35 wt%, or at least about 40 wt% tobacco solids (calculated on a wet weight basis). Additionally or alternatively, the precursor material may comprise up to about 60 wt%, up to about 55 wt%, up to about 50 wt%, up to about 45 wt%, or up to about 40 wt% tobacco solids (calculated on a wet weight basis). In some embodiments, the precursor material comprises from about 20 wt% to about 40 wt% tobacco solids (calculated on a wet weight basis).

In some embodiments, the precursor material comprises at least about 10 wt%, about 20 wt%, at least about 30 wt%, at least about 40 wt%, at least about 50 wt%, at least about 60 wt%, at least about 70 wt%, at least about 80 wt%, or at least about 90 wt% extract from a tobacco or other flavour- or active-substance containing plant material (calculated on a wet weight basis). Alternatively or additionally, precursor material may comprise up to about 99 wt%, up to about 90 wt%, up to about 80 wt%, up to about 70 wt% or up to about 60 wt% extract from tobacco or other flavour- or activesubstance containing plant material (calculated on a wet weight basis). In some embodiments, the precursor material comprises around 50 wt% tobacco extract (calculated on a wet weight basis). In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material may comprise at least about 45 wt%, at least about 50 wt%, at least about 60 wt%, at least about 70 wt%, at least about 80 wt%, at least about 90 wt%, or at least about 95 wt% tobacco material or tobacco extract, or flavour- or active-substance containing plant material extract (calculated on a diy weight basis). In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material may comprise about 60 to about 80 wt% tobacco extract (calculated on a diy weight basis).

In some embodiments, the dried aerosol-generating material may comprise from about 2 wt% to about 10 wt% of nicotine, or from about 3 to about 6 wt% of nicotine (calculated on a dry weight basis). In some embodiments, the precursor material comprises around 50 v/v% tobacco extract. Where the precursor material comprises around 50 v/v% tobacco extract and the tobacco extract has a tobacco solid content of between about 55 and about 60 v/v%, the overall tobacco solid content of the precursor material is from about 27.5 to about 30 v/v%.

In some embodiments, the tobacco extract has a solids content of between about 40 and about 65 wt%, between about 45 and about 65 wt%, or between about 40 and about 60 wt% (calculated on a wet weight basis). In some embodiments, the water content of the tobacco extract is between about 35 wt% and about 65 wt%, or between about 35 and about 55 wt% (calculated on a wet weight basis). In some embodiments, the nicotine content of the tobacco extract is between about 1 wt% and about 5 wt% (calculated on a wet weight basis).

In some embodiments, the dried aerosol-generating material may comprise at least about 45 wt%, at least about 50 wt%, at least about 60 wt%, at least about 70 wt%, at least about 80 wt%, at least about 90 wt%, or at least about 95 wt% tobacco solids (calculated on a dry weight basis). Additionally or alternatively, the aerosol-generating material may comprise up to about 99 wt%, up to about 98 wt%, up to about 95 wt%, up to about 90 wt% or up to about 80 wt%. In some embodiments, the dried aerosol- generating material may comprise about 60 to about 80 wt% tobacco solids (calculated on a dry weight basis).

In some embodiments, the tobacco extract is an aqueous tobacco extract. In some embodiments, the tobacco extract may be concentrated and subsequently diluted before being added to the precursor material and dried. In other embodiments, the tobacco extract is not concentrated and may be used directly in the precursor material. The precursor material may be in the form of a sluriy, a suspension, a gel, a liquid or a solid, but in some embodiments which may be preferred, it is in the form of a suspension or liquid. In some embodiments, particles of solid material may be removed from the extract and/ or from the precursor material by filtration and/ or centrifugation.

In some embodiments, it may be desirable for any particles in the precursor composition to have an average particle size of no greater than about 3 mm, of no greater than 1 mm, of no greater than about 0.5 mm, or to have an average particle size of no greater than about 0.3 mm, when measured by sieving or by observing the size of the particles by SEM.

The water content of the precursor material may be at least about 20 wt%, at least about 30 wt%, at least about 40 wt%, at least about 50 wt%, at least about 60 wt%, at least about 70 wt%, at least about 80 wt%, or at least about 90 wt% on a wet weight basis. Alternatively or additionally, the water content of the precursor material may be up to about 95 wt%, up to about 90 wt%, up to about 85 wt%, up to about 80 wt%, up to about 75 wt%, up to about 70 wt%, up to about 65 wt%, up to about 60 wt%, up to about 55 wt% or up to about 50 wt% on a wet weight basis. In some embodiments, the water content of the precursor material is between about 40 and about 50 wt % on a wet weight basis (50% and 60 v/v%). When the precursor material has a lower water content, the spray/freeze-diying process is quicker, as there is less water to remove. In some embodiments, the dried aerosol-generating material and/ or the precursor material comprises one or more active substance. This may be derived from the extract or it may be added. In some embodiments, the extract from a flavour- or activesubstance containing plant material comprises an active substance. The active substance may be a physiologically active material, which is a material intended to achieve or enhance a physiological response. The active substance may for example be selected from nutraceuticals, nootropics and psychoactives. The active substance may comprise, for example, nicotine, caffeine, taurine, theine, vitamins such as B6 or B12 or C, melatonin, cannabinoids, or constituents, derivatives, or combinations thereof. The active substance may comprise one or more constituents, derivatives or extracts of tobacco, cannabis or another botanical. In some embodiments, the active substance comprises nicotine. In some embodiments, the active substance comprises caffeine, melatonin or vitamin B12. In some embodiments, the precursor material may comprise an extract from other botanical source(s) along with or instead of the tobacco extract.

As noted herein, the extract may comprise or be derived from one or more botanicals or constituents, derivatives or extracts thereof. As used herein, the term "botanical" includes any material derived from plants including, but not limited to, extracts, leaves, bark, fibres, stems, roots, seeds, flowers, fruits, pollen, husk, shells or the like. The extract may comprise or be derived from botanicals in the form of liquid, gas, solid, powder, dust, crushed particles, granules, pellets, shreds, strips, sheets, or the like. Example botanicals are tobacco, eucalyptus, star anise, hemp, cocoa, cannabis, fennel, lemongrass, peppermint, spearmint, rooibos, chamomile, flax, ginger, ginkgo biloba, hazel, hibiscus, laurel, licorice (liquorice), matcha, mate, orange skin, papaya, rose, sage, tea such as green tea or black tea, thyme, clove, cinnamon, coffee, aniseed (anise), basil, bay leaves, cardamom, coriander, cumin, nutmeg, oregano, paprika, rosemary, saffron, lavender, lemon peel, mint, juniper, elderflower, vanilla, wintergreen, beefsteak plant, curcuma, turmeric, sandalwood, cilantro, bergamot, orange blossom, myrtle, cassis, valerian, pimento, mace, damien, maijoram, olive, lemon balm, lemon basil, chive, carvi, verbena, tarragon, geranium, mulberiy, ginseng, theanine, theacrine, maca, ashwagandha, damiana, guarana, chlorophyll, baobab or any combination thereof. The mint may be chosen from the following mint varieties: Mentha Arventis, Mentha c.v., Mentha niliaca, Mentha piperita, Mentha piperita citrata c.v., Mentha piperita c.v., Mentha spicata crispa, Mentha cardifolia, Mentha longifolia, Mentha suaveolens variegata, Mentha pulegium, Mentha spicata c.v. and Mentha suaveolens In some embodiments, the extract comprises or is derived from one or more botanicals or constituents, derivatives or extracts thereof selected from eucalyptus, star anise, cocoa and hemp.

In some embodiments, the extract comprises or is derived from one or more botanicals or constituents, derivatives or extracts thereof selected from rooibos and fennel. In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material and/or the precursor material comprises one or more cannabinoid compounds selected from the group consisting of: cannabidiol (CBD), tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA), cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), cannabinol (CBN), cannabigerol (CBG), cannabichromene (CBC), cannabicyclol (CBL), cannabivarin (CBV), tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), cannabidivarin (CBDV), cannabichromevarin (CBCV), cannabigerovarin (CBGV), cannabigerol monomethyl ether (CBGM) and cannabielsoin (CBE), cannabicitran (CBT). The aerosol-generating material and/ or the precursor material may comprise one or more cannabinoid compounds selected from the group consisting of cannabidiol (CBD) and THC (tetrahydrocannabinol).

The aerosol-generating material and/or the precursor material may comprise cannabidiol (CBD).

The aerosol-generating material and/or the precursor material may comprise nicotine and cannabidiol (CBD). The aerosol-generating material and/ or the precursor material may comprise nicotine, cannabidiol (CBD), and THC (tetrahydrocannabinol).

The aerosol-generating material further comprises an aerosol-former material. In some embodiments, this aerosol-former material is included in the precursor material.

The aerosol-former material may comprise one or more constituents capable of forming an aerosol. The aerosol-former maybe, for instance, a polyol aerosol generator or a non-polyol aerosol generator. It may be a solid or liquid at room temperature, but preferably is a liquid at room temperature.

In some embodiments, the aerosol-former material may comprise one or more of glycerine, glycerol, propylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol, 1,3-butylene glycol, erythritol, meso-Eiythritol, ethyl vanillate, ethyl laurate, a diethyl suberate, triethyl citrate, triacetin, a diacetin mixture, benzyl benzoate, benzyl phenyl acetate, tributyrin, lauiyl acetate, lauric acid, myristic acid, and propylene carbonate. In some embodiments, the aerosol former comprises one or more polyhydric alcohols, such as propylene glycol, triethylene glycol, i ,3-butanediol and glycerin; esters of polyhydric alcohols, such as glycerol mono-, di- or triacetate; and/or aliphatic esters of mono-, di- or polycarboxylic acids, such as dimethyl dodecanedioate and dimethyl tetradecanedioate. In some embodiments, the aerosol-former material comprises one or more compounds selected from eiythritol, propylene glycol, glycerol, vegetable glycerine (VG), triacetin, sorbitol and xylitol. In some embodiments, the aerosol-former material comprises, consists essentially of or consists of glycerol. Glycerol provides a visible aerosol when the aerosol-generation device is used. It is common that consumers like the aerosol generating device to provide a visible aerosol, as this enables the consumer to visualise the product and what they are consuming. This makes glycerol a desirable choice for aerosol former material. Propylene glycol has the benefit that it is a better flavour carrier than glycerol.

A combination of two or more aerosol forming agents may be used, in equal or differing proportions. In some embodiments, the precursor material comprises at least about 1 wt%, at least about 5 wt%, at least about 10 wt%, or at least about 20 wt% aerosol-former material (calculated on a wet weight basis). Additionally or alternatively, the precursor material may comprise up to about 40 wt%, up to about 35, up to about 30 wt%, up to about 25 wt%, up to about 20 wt%, or up to about 10 wt% aerosol-former material (calculated on a wet weight basis) .

In embodiments of the invention in which the aerosol-former material is glycerol, the precursor material may comprise at most 36 wt% of glycerol. The inventors have demonstrated that dry weight inclusion levels up to 36 wt% (calculated on a dry weight basis) of aerosol-former material are possible.

The amount of glycerol in the precursor material, and therefore the dried aerosol material, is important because it is both an aerosol-forming material and also a plasticizer. If the concentration of glycerol it too high, it may be detrimental to a critical temperature of the product during the freeze-drying process and may result in collapse of the product if the critical temperature of the formulation is exceeded. On the other hand, sufficient glycerol should be included to provide the consumer with an adequate and pleasing aerosol.

As glycerol and some other aerosol-former materials are considered to have anti-freeze properties, it is particularly surprising that it is possible to freeze-dry a precursor material comprising such materials. Nevertheless, the inventors have discovered that precursor materials comprising glycerol may be freeze dried to form a highly useful aerosol-generating material. In some embodiments, the dried aerosol-generating material may comprise at least about i wt%, at least about 5 wt%, at least about 10 wt%, at least about 20 wt%, at least about 30 wt%, or at least about 40 wt% aerosol-former material (calculated on a dry weight basis). In some embodiments, the dried aerosol-generating material may comprise from about 1 to about 34 wt%, or from about 17 to about 34 wt% aerosol-former material (calculated on a dry weight basis). In some embodiments in which the aerosol-former material is glycerol, the dried aerosol-generating material may comprise from about 13 to about 34 wt% glycerol (calculated on a diy weight basis).

In embodiments in which Burley tobacco is used, the aerosol-generating material may comprise from about 17 to about 36 wt% of glycerol. The amount of glycerol in the aerosol material is important because it is both an aerosol-forming material and a plasticizer. If the concentration of glycerol is too high, it may be detrimental to the critical temperature of the product during the freeze-drying process and may result in collapse of the product if a critical temperature of the formulation is exceeded. On the other hand, sufficient glycerol should be included to provide the consumer with an adequate and pleasing aerosol. In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material and/ or the precursor material further comprises one or more excipients. In some embodiments, the excipient stabilises and preserves the precursor material and the inventors have found the inclusion of an excipient especially important for stability when the precursor material comprised glycerol as the aerosol-forming material. The excipient may also act as a bulking agent or a filler material. In some embodiments, the inclusion of an excipient may also improve the handleability of the dried aerosol-generating material, helping it to retain its granular form by helping to reduce moisture uptake and the resulting increase in tackiness of the material. The presence of an excipient may also have an effect on the speed of (freeze) diying. Suitable excipients include mannitol, sucrose, trehalose, lactose, sorbitol, raffinose, maltose, dextrans such as Dextran to, Dextran 70, Dextran 90, maltodextrin, gelatin, agar, cyclodextrins, and polyethylene glycols such as PEG 2000-6000, and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP 10). In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material and/ or the precursor material comprises one or more excipients in an amount of from o to about 40 wt% on a wet weight basis. In some embodiments, the precursor material may comprise at least about 1 wt%, at least about 10 wt%, at least about 20 wt%, at least about 30 wt%, and/or up to about 40 wt%, up to about 30%, up to about 20 wt%, or up to about 10 wt% excipient on a wet weight basis.

In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material may comprise at least about 0.1 wt%, at least about 10 wt%, at least about 20 wt%, or at least about 25 wt% excipient (calculated on a diy weight basis). In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material may comprise up to about 25%, up to about 20 wt%, up to about 15 wt%, or up to about 10 wt% excipient (calculated on a dry weight basis).

In an exemplary embodiment, the aerosol-generating material comprises about 36 wt% glycerol, about 45 wt% tobacco extract, and about 19 wt% excipient on a diy weight basis.

In another exemplary embodiment, the aerosol-generating material comprises from about 17 to about 39 wt% glycerol, from about 41 to about 76 wt% tobacco extract, and from o to about 28 wt% excipient on a dry weight basis.

In embodiments in which the excipient is agar, the precursor material may comprise o wt%, about 5 wt%, or about 10 wt% agar. The inventors have found that agar makes the precursor material more viscous and that the freeze-drying process is easier when the precursor material comprises a lower concentration of the agar excipient. In some embodiments, the precursor material comprises about 50 wt% tobacco extract, from o to about 36 wt% aerosol forming agent (for example, from oto about 15 v/v%) and from o to about 40 wt% (for example, about 37.5 v/v%) excipient. The tobacco extract may comprise about 55 wt% tobacco solids and the overall tobacco solids content of the precursor material is about 27.5 wt%.

In some embodiments, the precursor material comprises about 50 wt% tobacco extract, up to about 36 wt% (for example, about 15 v/v%) glycerol and from o to about 40 wt% (for example, about 37.5 v/v%) excipient. The tobacco extract may comprise about 55 wt% tobacco solids and the overall tobacco solids content of the precursor material is about 27.5 wt%.

Some sample formulations of dried aerosol-generating materials formed from aqueous tobacco extracts are summarised in Table 1 below, with the amounts provided on a dry weight basis. These are theoretical values (before drying and inherent losses).

Typically from about 80 to 89% of the glycerol is retained flowing the diying. Glycerol may be used as an aerosol-former material, but can be replaced or partially replaced with one or more other aerosol-former material such as those disclosed herein. The excipient used may be a dextran such as Dextran 70. Again, this may be replaced or partially replaced with alternative excipients, such as those disclosed herein.

Table 1

The percentage content of nicotine in the formulation will depend on the type of tobacco used, and the presence of other components, i.e. the aerosol-former and the excipient.

In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material and/or the precursor material comprises one or more binders. In some embodiments the one or more binder is selected from the group consisting of: thermoreversible gelling agents, such as gelatin; starches; polysaccharides; pectins; celluloses; cellulose derivatives, such as carboxymethylcellulose; and alginates.

In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material and/or the precursor material comprises one or more flavour-modifier, flavour or flavourant. This may be derived from the extract or it may be added. As used herein, the terms "flavour" and "flavourant" refer to materials which, where local regulations permit, may be used to create a desired taste, aroma or other somatosensorial sensation in a product for adult consumers. They may include naturally occurring flavour materials, botanicals, extracts of botanicals, synthetically obtained materials, or combinations thereof (e.g., tobacco, cannabis, licorice (liquorice), hydrangea, eugenol, Japanese white bark magnolia leaf, chamomile, fenugreek, clove, maple, matcha, menthol, Japanese mint, aniseed (anise), cinnamon, turmeric, Indian spices, Asian spices, herb, wintergreen, cherry, berry, red berry, cranberry, peach, apple, orange, mango, clementine, lemon, lime, tropical fruit, papaya, rhubarb, grape, durian, dragon fruit, cucumber, blueberry, mulberry, citrus fruits, Drambuie, bourbon, scotch, whiskey, gin, tequila, rum, spearmint, peppermint, lavender, aloe vera, cardamom, celery, cascarilla, nutmeg, sandalwood, bergamot, geranium, khat, naswar, betel, shisha, pine, honey essence, rose oil, vanilla, lemon oil, orange oil, orange blossom, cheriy blossom, cassia, caraway, cognac, jasmine, ylang-ylang, sage, fennel, wasabi, piment, ginger, coriander, coffee, hemp, a mint oil from any species of the genus Mentha, eucalyptus, star anise, cocoa, lemongrass, rooibos, flax, ginkgo biloba, hazel, hibiscus, laurel, mate, orange skin, rose, tea such as green tea or black tea, thyme, juniper, elderflower, basil, bay leaves, cumin, oregano, paprika, rosemary, saffron, lemon peel, mint, beefsteak plant, curcuma, cilantro, myrtle, cassis, valerian, pimento, mace, damien, maijoram, olive, lemon balm, lemon basil, chive, carvi, verbena, tarragon, limonene, thymol, camphene), flavour enhancers, bitterness receptor site blockers, sensorial receptor site activators or stimulators, sugars and/or sugar substitutes (e.g., sucralose, acesulfame potassium, aspartame, saccharine, cyclamates, lactose, sucrose, glucose, fructose, sorbitol, or mannitol), and other additives such as charcoal, chlorophyll, minerals, botanicals, or breath freshening agents. They may be imitation, synthetic or natural ingredients or blends thereof. They may be in any suitable form, for example, liquid such as an oil, solid such as a powder, or gas. In some embodiments, the flavour comprises menthol, spearmint and/ or peppermint. In some embodiments, the flavour comprises flavour components of cucumber, blueberry, citrus fruits and/or redberry. In some embodiments, the flavour comprises eugenol. In some embodiments, the flavour comprises flavour components extracted from tobacco. In some embodiments, the flavour comprises flavour components extracted from cannabis.

In some embodiments, the flavour may comprise a sensate, which is intended to achieve a somatosensorial sensation which are usually chemically induced and perceived by the stimulation of the fifth cranial nerve (trigeminal nerve), in addition to or in place of aroma or taste nerves, and these may include agents providing heating, cooling, tingling, numbing effect. A suitable heat effect agent may be, but is not limited to, vanillyl ethyl ether and a suitable cooling agent may be, but not limited to eucolyptol, WS-3.

In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material and/or the precursor material comprises one or more other functional materials, which may comprise one or more of pH regulators, colouring agents, preservatives, fillers, stabilizers, and/or antioxidants.

In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material and/or the precursor material contains a filler component. The filler component is generally a non-tobacco component, that is, a component that does not include ingredients originating from tobacco. In some embodiments, the precursor material comprises less than 60 wt% of a filler, such as from 1 wt% to 60 wt%, or 5 wt% to 50 wt%, or 5 wt% to 30 wt%, or 10 wt% to 20 wt% on a wet weight basis. The filler, if present, may comprise one or more inorganic filler materials such as calcium carbonate, perlite, vermiculite, diatomaceous earth, colloidal silica, magnesium oxide, magnesium sulphate, magnesium carbonate, and suitable inorganic sorbents, such as molecular sieves. The filler may comprise one or more organic filler materials such as wood pulp, hemp fibre, cellulose and cellulose derivatives.

In some embodiments, the dried aerosol-generating material is in the form of a gel. A gelling agent may be added to the aerosol-generating material, the precursor material or may be optionally omitted. The gelling agent may comprise one or more compounds selected from cellulosic gelling agents, non-cellulosic gelling agents, guar gum, acacia gum and mixtures thereof. In some embodiments, the cellulosic gelling agent is selected from the group consisting of: hydroxymethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), methyl cellulose, ethyl cellulose, cellulose acetate (CA), cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB), cellulose acetate propionate (CAP) and combinations thereof.

In some embodiments, the gelling agent comprises (or is) one or more of hydroxyethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), carboxymethylcellulose, guar gum, or acacia gum.

In some embodiments, the gelling agent comprises (or is) one or more non-cellulosic gelling agents, including, but not limited to, agar, xanthan gum, gum Arabic, guar gum, locust bean gum, pectin, carrageenan, starch, alginate, and combinations thereof. In preferred embodiments, the non-cellulose based gelling agent is alginate or agar.

The aerosol-generating material and/or the precursor material may comprise an acid.

The acid may be an organic acid. In some of these embodiments, the acid may be at least one of a monoprotic acid, a diprotic acid and a triprotic acid. In some such embodiments, the acid may contain at least one carboxyl functional group. In some such embodiments, the acid may be at least one of an alpha-hydroxy acid, carboxylic acid, dicarboxylic acid, tricarboxylic acid and keto acid. In some such embodiments, the acid may be an alpha-keto acid.

In some such embodiments, the acid may be at least one of succinic acid, lactic acid, benzoic acid, citric acid, tartaric acid, fumaric acid, levulinic acid, acetic acid, malic acid, formic acid, sorbic acid, benzoic acid, propanoic and pyruvic acid. In some embodiments, the acid is selected from one of lactic acid, benzoic acid and levulinic acid. In other embodiments the acid may be an inorganic acid. In some of these embodiments the acid may be a mineral acid. In some such embodiments, the acid may be at least one of sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid, boric acid and phosphoric acid.

The inclusion of an acid is may be beneficial in embodiments in which the aerosol- generating material and/or the precursor material comprises nicotine. In such embodiments, the presence of an acid may stabilise dissolved species in the slurry from which the aerosol-generating material is formed. The presence of the acid may reduce or substantially prevent evaporation of nicotine during drying of the slurry, thereby reducing loss of nicotine during manufacturing. In certain embodiments, the aerosol-generating material comprises a gelling agent comprising a cellulosic gelling agent and/or a non-cellulosic gelling agent, an active substance and an acid.

The dried aerosol-generating material may be in any solid form. For example, the aerosol-generating material may be in the form of particles, granules or powder. The aerosol-generating material may be in the form of a monolithic form, tablet, agglomerate or “cake”. In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material formed by freeze- or spray-diying and is then processed with other suitable steps as required and known to the person skilled in the art to provide the dried material in the desired form, for example in the form of particles of the desired size(s).

In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material is in the form of granules. The granules may be of any size, cross-sectional shape or mass. The aerosol-generating material in the form of granules is advantageous due to the high surface area to volume ratio, which positively impacts the release of volatiles from the material. This form also facilitates incorporation of the material into an aerosol provision system.

In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material is free-flowing and non-sticky, and this aids the further processing and handling of the aerosol-generating material.

Smaller granule particles have a greater surface area to volume ratio and they may therefore exhibit enhanced release of tobacco constituents compared to particles of larger sizes. In some embodiments, it may be desirable for the particles in the precursor composition, to have an average particle size of no greater than about 3 mm, of no greater than 1 mm, of no greater than about 0.5 mm, or to have an average particle size of no greater than about 0.3 mm, when measured by sieving. In some embodiments, the average particle size is within the range of about 0.1 to about 3 mm, of about 0.1 to about 1 mm, of about 0.1 to about 0.5 mm, of about 0.1 to about 0.4 mm, or in the range of about 0.2 to about 0.3 mm. In some embodiments, at least about 90% of the particles of the precursor composition will have a particle size within the range of about 0.1 to about 3 mm, or of about 0.1 to about 1 mm, or of about 0.1 to about 0.5 mm. In some embodiments, at least about 90% of the tobacco particles of the precursor composition will have a particle size within the range of about 0.1 to about 3 mm, or of about 0.1 to about 1 mm, or of about 0.1 to 0.5 mm. In some embodiments, none of the particles in the precursor composition have a particle size greater than 5 mm, greater than 4 mm, greater than 2 mm, greater than 1.5 mm, or greater than about 1 mm. When preparing the precursor compositions to be dried, the particle size of any solid material present may be reduced by grinding, shredding, cutting or crushing plant material. Suitable machinery to create such plant particles includes, for example, shredders, cutters, or mills, such as hammer mills, roller mills or other types of commercially available milling machinery. The size of the plant particles is selected to provide particles which can be readily prepared from a variety of different types of plant material, having the properties described herein, and which provide a source of plant constituents that are readily released.

Particles of the aerosol -generating material of a smaller size may be advantageous for aerosol generation. Without wishing to be bound by any particular theory, smaller particles may have a greater surface area to volume ratio, which may improve aerosol generation. In some embodiments, the dried aerosol-generating material readily forms particles with an average size of smaller than 1 mm. In some embodiments, the particles may be as small as 10 pm or even as small as 1 pm. The size of the particles may be determined by sieving or by observing the particles by SEM.

In some embodiments, the freeze dried precursor material is ground into particles and may be sieved to exclude particles that are considered too small or too large to be used as aerosol-generating material. In some embodiments, aerosol-generating material used in the present invention has a particle size distribution Dio from about 5 to about 25 pm (meaning that 10% of the particles in the tested sample are smaller than the value), a particle size distribution D50 from about 30 to about 200 pm (meaning that 50% of the particles in the tested sample are smaller than the value), and a particle size distribution D90 from about 500 to about 2500 pm (meaning that 90% of the particles in the tested sample are smaller than the value). These values are determined using particle size analyser Microtrac CamSizer® X2. Percentages referred to here are volume percentages.

In some embodiments, the freeze dried material used as the aerosol-generating material according to the present invention has a particle size distribution Dio from about 8 to about 15 pm, a particle size distribution D50 from about 50 to about 150 pm, and a particle size distribution D90 from about 900 to about 1700 pm.

In some embodiments, the Dio mean is from about 10 to about 15 pm, the D50 mean from about 40 to about 140 pm and the D90 mean from about 800 to about 1600 pm.

Spray-drying and freeze-drying

The drying methods used to diy the precursor material may be any suitable drying process, including freeze-drying or spray-drying processes. The drying process used must be compatible with the precursor material and the desired make-up of the aerosol-generating material. As it may be desirable for the aerosol-generating material to include active and/or flavour substances derived from the extract in the precursor material, it is important to select a drying method that will retain a sufficient amount of these components.

In small scale examples, the precursor material is freeze-dried using freeze-drying microscopy, for example using a Lyostat freeze-drying microscope.

In a spray-drying process, the precursor material is sprayed and rapidly dried using a hot gas. The use of spray drying provides several advantages to the present invention: the dry particle size can be controlled and may be consistent; tobacco or flavour extracts or materials are heat sensitive but can still be spray-dried at relatively high inlet temperatures; a short residence time in the spray-diying equipment is required; and minimal loss of flavour/volatiles. This makes the process adaptable to reduce loss of volatile compounds and maintain the desired flavour of the aerosol generating material.

Freeze-drying, also known as lyophilisation or cryodesiccation, is a process in which the precursor material is frozen, the temperature lowered and the water is removed via sublimation under reduced pressure conditions. Without wishing to be bound by any specific theory, it is believed that the low processing temperatures and rapid water loss via sublimation avoid changes in the aerosol-generating material’s structure, appearance and characteristics. This process preserves the structure of the precursor material, and reduces the loss and decomposition of volatile flavour compounds. The dried aerosol-generating material has a lower water content than the precursor material. The water content of the aerosol-generating material may be at most about 0.5 wt%, about 1 wt%, about 2%, about 5 wt%, about 10 wt%, or about 20 wt% (calculated on a wet weight basis). The water content of the dried aerosol-generating material may be reduced from the precursor material by at least about 50 wt%, about 60 wt%, about 70 wt%, about 80 wt%, about 90 wt%, about 95 wt%, about 98 wt%, or by about too wt%. In some embodiments the dried aerosol-generating material has a water content of less than about 5 wt%, less than about 4 wt%, less than about 3 wt%, less than about 2 wt% or less than about 1 wt% (calculated on a wet weight basis), as measured by gas chromatography-thermal conductivity detector (GC-TCD) or Karl Fischer measurement.

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the precursor material comprises Burley tobacco extract and a water content of 60 wt%. After the freeze-drying operation described herein, the dried aerosol generating material has a water content of 3 wt%.

A lower water content of the dried aerosol-generating material is associated with longer shelf-life and stability. However, very low water content may be associated be a brittle structure and a smaller particle size, as well as taking longer to process. The material is also very hygroscopic. If the water content of the dried aerosol-generating material is too high on the other hand, the desired increased stability may not be achieved. The dried aerosol-generating material may also not be as easy to handle with higher water content, with the material becoming sticky.

The inventors have found that when the precursor material comprises an excipient, the precursor material may be better suited to being dried via spray-drying (compared to a precursor material without an excipient). Without wishing to be bound by any particular theoiy, it is speculated that increasing the amount of the excipient in the precursor material raises the glass transition temperature to above too°C and this affects the physical properties of the material, making it more suitable for spray diying.

Use of the compositions The compositions comprising the aerosol-generating material and sorbent material may be used in combustible or non-combustible aerosol provision systems, or in an aerosol-free delivery system. In some embodiments, the sorbent may be incorporated into the composition with the aerosol-generating material by including it in the precursor composition that is dried, for example by freeze-drying, along with extract from the active and/or flavour containing plant material and optionally any support. Alternatively, as discussed above, the sorbent may be blended with the aerosol-generating material after it has been dried and which may, for example, be in the form of a powder or granules. In yet further embodiments, the sorbent may be added as a coating surrounding or partially surrounding the aerosol-generating material.

In some embodiments, the optional support may be an additional aerosol-generating material, such as tobacco material in the form of cut rag or reconstituted tobacco material. The composition may be added to the additional aerosol-generating material to introduce the dried aerosol-generating material included in the composition. Additionally, the composition may be introduced in order to stabilise or structurally strengthen the additional aerosol-generating material.

In some embodiments, the support consists of or comprises a heating material that comprises one or more materials selected from the group consisting of: an electrically- conductive material, a magnetic material, and a magnetic electrically-conductive material. In some embodiments, the heating material may comprise a metal or a metal alloy. In some embodiments, the heating material may comprise one or more materials selected from the group consisting of: aluminium, gold, iron, nickel, cobalt, conductive carbon, graphite, plain-carbon steel, stainless steel, ferritic stainless steel, copper, and bronze. In some embodiments, the heating material may be heated by induction heating.

Induction heating is a process in which an electrically-conductive object is heated by penetrating the object with a varying magnetic field. In some embodiments, the heating material may be heated by resistive heating. In such embodiments, the heating material is connected to a power supply. Alternatively, the heating may be microwave heating or infrared heating. The present invention also relates to a consumable or article, comprising an aerosolgenerating material comprising a dried precursor material comprising an extract from a flavour- and/or active-containing plant material, and a sorbent. In some embodiments, there is provided a consumable that comprises an aerosolgenerating material comprising a dried precursor material comprising an extract from a flavour- and/or active-containing plant material and an aerosol-former material and a sorbent. These components may be provided in a composition as discussed above. Alternatively, these components may be provided separately in the consumable, but in such a manner that the sorbent still competes with the aerosol-generating material for the moisture in the environment and therefore reduces the amount of moisture absorbed by the aerosol-generating material. In some embodiments, the sorbent may be provided in or on a wrapper that surrounds the aerosol generating material in the consumable. In other embodiments, the sorbent may be incorporated into a separate section of the consumable to the aerosol-generating material. This may have the benefit of reducing the exposure of the sorbent to the high temperatures that the aerosol-generating material is heated to upon use. For example, the sorbent may be located in an adjacent section of the consumable which is not directly heated. This may be downstream or upstream of the aerosol-generating material. In some embodiments, the sorbent is included in one or more sections of the consumable that does not include the aerosol-generating material, such as a cooling element section, or a filter section.

A consumable is an article comprising aerosol-generating material, part or all of which is intended to be consumed during use by a user. In this case, the aerosol-generating material, or at least some of the aerosol-generating material, is in the form of the composition disclosed herein, comprising the aerosol-generating material and sorbent material. A consumable may comprise one or more other components, such as an aerosolgenerating material storage area, an aerosol-generating material transfer component, an aerosol generation area, a housing, a wrapper, a mouthpiece, a filter and/or an aerosol-modifying agent. A consumable may also comprise an aerosol generator, such as a heater, that emits heat to cause the aerosol-generating material to generate aerosol in use. The heater may, for example, comprise combustible material, a material heatable by electrical conduction, or a susceptor. The consumable may be any shape or size that is appropriate to the smoking device. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the consumable is a rod shape.

In some embodiments, the composition comprising the aerosol-generating material and sorbent material is provided in an aerosol-generating device such as a tobaccoheating product (THP) or hybrid e-cigarette product. Advantageously, the composition may be used directly as a solid substrate and the composition is directly heated without burning to provide an inhalable aerosol. Heating the composition may aerosolise components of the aerosol-generating material, for example the glycerol, nicotine and/or tobacco flavour. The compositions comprising the aerosol-generating material and sorbent material may be stored in reduced humidity conditions, for example less than about 30% humidity, prior to use. For example, protection from the ambient moisture may be provided by the packaging of the consumable. In other embodiments, the composition itself and/or the sorbent protects the moisture sensitive aerosolgenerating material, and so it is not necessary for the composition or the consumable to be stored in reduced humidity conditions prior to use. In some embodiments, the composition comprising an aerosol-generating material and sorbent material may be incorporated into the consumable in the absence of any carrier or other substrate material that would need to be heated.

However, in some embodiments, the compositions comprising the aerosol-generating material and sorbent material may be applied to a fibrous paper material to provide reconstituted tobacco. This process may be analogous to the existing process of preparing reconstituted tobacco by applying tobacco extract to fibrous paper material, and modified by replacing the tobacco extract with the dried aerosol-generating material. This is advantageous as the aerosol-generating material can be incorporated into an existing manufacturing process, but with the improved shelflife as discussed herein. “Paper reconstituted tobacco” refers to tobacco material formed by a process in which tobacco feedstock is extracted with a solvent to afford an extract of solubles and a residue comprising fibrous material, and then the extract (usually after concentration, and optionally after further processing) is recombined with fibrous material from the residue (usually after refining of the fibrous material, and optionally with the addition of a portion of non-tobacco fibres) by deposition of the extract onto the fibrous material. The process of recombination resembles the process for making paper. The paper reconstituted tobacco described herein may be prepared by methods which are known to those skilled in the art for preparing paper reconstituted tobacco.

In some embodiments, the composition is provided as in the form of free-flowing particles. These may be retained within a porous bag or pouch. Alternatively, the composition may be retained within a chamber of a cartridge or the like.

In other embodiments, the composition may be provided in the form of an agglomerate comprising particles of aerosol-generating material and sorbent material. In some embodiments, the sorbent material is provided mixed with the particles of aerosol- generating material in the agglomerate. Additionally or alternatively, the sorbent material may be present on the surface of the agglomerated aerosol-generating material.

In some embodiments, the total mass of the dried aerosol generating material included for use in a delivery system is up to about 200 mg, up to about 190 mg, up to about 180 mg, up to about 170 mg, up to about 160 mg, up to about 150 mg, up to about 140 mg, up to about 130 mg, up to about 120 mg, up to about no mg, up to about too mg, up to about 90 mg, up to about 80 mg, up to about 70 mg, up to about 60 mg, or up to about 50 mg.

Alternatively or in addition, the total mass of the dried aerosol generating material included may be at least about 5 mg, at least about 10 mg, at least about 15 mg, at least about 20 mg, at least about 25 mg, at least about 30 mg, at least about 35 mg, at least about 40 mg, at least about 45 mg, or at least about 50 mg. In some embodiments, the total mass of the dried aerosol-generating material is sufficient to provide aerosol, for example, for up to about to puffs to be generated in a single session or over a series of multiple sessions. In such embodiments, the total mass of the dried aerosol-generating material provided is from about to to too mg, or from about 25 to about 50 mg.

Sheet material comprising sorbent

The present invention relates to a sheet material having desiccant properties, comprising a base material and a sorbent, which is a hygroscopic material.

The sheet material may be incorporated into a pack for an article comprising an aerosol-generating material. The sorbent or desiccant properties of the sheet material mean that the sheet material competes with the aerosol generating material to absorb moisture from the surrounding environment, thus reducing the amount of moisture absorbed by the aerosol-generating material, for example during storage or when the pack is opened and exposed to environmental moisture.

The term desiccant properties refers to the property of inducing or maintaining a state of diyness in the sheet material’s vicinity. In the context of the present invention where the sheet material is intended to be incorporated into the packaging for an aerosolgenerating article, the vicinity may be defined as the interior of said packaging.

In embodiments in which the sheet material is incorporated into the packaging surrounding an article comprising an aerosol-generating material, the sheet material will be in the vicinity of the aerosol-generating material. The desiccant material in the sheet material will absorb moisture from the environment surrounding the aerosolgenerating material, thereby reducing moisture absorption by the aerosol-generating material itself. Thus, the sheet material is able to maintain the moisture content of the aerosol-generating material, preventing or reducing unwanted moisture absorption by the aerosol-generating material whilst it is located in the pack or packaging.

The storage of the hygroscopic aerosol-generating material as disclosed herein presents different challenges to the storage of tobacco material used in conventional combustible smoking articles, such as cigarettes and cigars. In the case of combustible smoking articles, the tobacco material has a tendency to dry out during storage. As a result, the packaging of such articles frequently includes a moisture impermeable film to keep the moisture inside the packaging. Some smoking article packaging may further include a moisture reservoir which serves to maintain a desired moisture content of the tobacco material. Such moisture reservoirs may comprise a desiccant material which is precharged with water so that the desiccant material will maintain the (elevated) moisture levels within the packaging by maintaining a moisture equilibrium.

In contrast, during the storage of hygroscopic aerosol-generating material as disclosed herein, the material has a tendency to absorb moisture from the surrounding environment. It is known that this uptake of water can be associated with a negative impact on the release of active substances such as nicotine and flavours from the aerosol-generating material when it is consumed. Therefore, it is advantageous to protect this hygroscopic aerosol-generating material from moisture and to reduce the amount of water that may be absorbed during storage. The sorbent or desiccant sheet materials of the present invention will compete with the hygroscopic aerosol-generating material for moisture, thus preventing the aerosolgenerating material from absorbing water or reducing the amount of water absorbed.

In some embodiments, the sheet material is intended for use by being located in the vicinity of an aerosol-generating material. In some embodiments, the sheet material is in the vicinity of the aerosol-generating material whilst in storage. The sheet material may be used to maintain the quality and prolong the shelf-life of the aerosol-generating material by providing a desiccant effect. The sheet material

The sheet materials provided by the present invention comprise a paper or card base material incorporating a desiccant material. The sorbent or desiccant material provides the sheet material with the ability to absorb moisture from the surrounding environment. Indeed, it is important that the desiccant material is not wetted before use, so that the sheet material is able to absorb water.

In some embodiments, the base material provides the sheet material with its structure and renders the sheet material suitable for use as part of a pack or packaging. As discussed below, in some embodiments this allows the desiccant material to be incorporated as an integral or structural part of a pack or packing within which the aerosol-generating material is to be stored. An advantage associated with the sorbent or desiccant sheet material is that it comprises biodegradable, recyclable, or otherwise environmentally-friendly materials which may be sustainably sourced. The sheet material may replace other less sustainable, non-recyclable and/or non-biodegradable materials that are conventionally used in the packaging of consumables comprising aerosol-generating materials to protect these from moisture, such as plastic films and metal foils.

In some embodiments, the sheet material has a grammage of from about 20 g/m² to about 250 g/m². In some embodiments, the sheet material has a grammage of at least about 20 g/m², at least about 30 g/m², at least about 40 g/m², at least about 50 g/m², at least about 60 g/m², at least about 70 g/m², at least about 80 g/m², at least about 90 g/m², at least about too g/m², at least about 125 g/m², at least about 150 g/m², at least about 175 g/m², or at least about 200 g/m². In some embodiments, the sheet material has a grammage of up to about 250 g/m², up to about 240 g/m², up to about 230 g/m², up to about 220 g/m², up to about 210 g/m², up to about 200 g/m², up to about 190 g/m², up to about 180 g/m², up to about 170 g/m², up to about 160 g/m², up to about 150 g/m², up to about 125 g/m², up to about too g/m², up to about 75 g/m², or up to about 50 g/m². The grammage of the material has an effect on the density of the material, and so can have an effect on the thickness, tensile strength, and bending moment, and may be selected to provide optimised structural integrity of the sheet material. The grammage of the material may be measured in any suitable way known in the art, for example weighing a known area of the material. In some embodiments, the sheet material has a thickness of from about 30 pm to about 500 pm. The thickness of the sheet material may be measured using a microscope such as a scanning electron microscope (SEM), as known to those skilled in the art, or any other suitable technique known to those skilled in the art. The thickness of the base material can contribute to its structural rigidity and in turn the structural integrity of the sheet material and any item or pack made therefrom.

In some cases, the thickness of the sheet material may vary by no more than about 25%, about 20%, about 15%, about 10%, about 5% or about 1% across its area. This has the advantage that in embodiments in which sheet material is used as part of a pack or packaging, the sheet material has a consistent thickness so that the space for the consumable(s) within the pack or packaging is predictable and can be precise. The thickness of the sheet can be determined using ISO 534:2011 “Paper and Board- Determination of Thickness”. The inventors have found that thicker sheet materials may perform better in this invention. This may be because thicker material provides an improved tensile strength, and so provides adequate structural integrity to the pack or packaging material. In addition, the thickness of the sheet material may contribute to the appropriate bending resistance of the sheet material. This means that when the material is bent, the shape of the material is retained. Advantageously, this provides a shape to the sheet material and/or support material which fits around the aerosol- generating device and fits the packaging suitably, and may be handled by the user.

In some embodiments, the sheet material has a bending resistance of from about 100 to about 350 mN measured using ISO 2493m the machine direction (MD), which is the direction of travel during production. In some embodiments, the sheet material has a bending resistance of from about 50 to about 250 mN measured using ISO 2493 in the counter direction (CD), which is the direction at 90° to MD.

In some embodiments, the sheet material has a tensile strength of from about 50 N/m to about 900 N/m. In some embodiments, the sheet material has a tensile strength of from about 50 N/m to about 900 N/m, from about 80 N/m to about 860 N/m, from about 100 N/m to about 820 N/m, from about 140 N/m to about 780 N/m, from about 180 N/m to about 720 N/m.

In some embodiments, the sheet material has a wet tensile strength of from about 4 to about 8 N/ismm. In some embodiments, the sheet material has a wet tensile strength of from about 5 to about 7, or of about 6 N/ismm. The wet tensile strength may be measured by any means known in the art, but may be measured using an Instron Tensile & Compression tester. It is important to select the appropriate thickness, bending strength, tensile strength and/or wet tensile strength of the sheet material so that it is strong enough and malleable enough for its intended purpose. For example, a more rigid sheet material (associated with a higher thickness, bending moment, tensile strength and/or wet tensile strength) may be suitable for a pack, so that the sheet is sturdy and does not crinkle. On the other hand, in embodiments in which the sheet material is used as an inner wrapper within which one or more consumables is wrapped inside a pack, the sheet material must be malleable to fit the shape of the consumable, and strong enough to maintain that shape, and not tear or be otherwise degraded.

In some embodiments, the sheet material has a moisture content of up to about 10%. Such a low moisture content is preferred in order to ensure that the sheet material absorbs water when in use.

In some embodiments, the sorbent or desiccant material is included in the sheet material an amount from about 25 to about 70 wt% (DWB), based on the total weight of the sheet material. In some embodiments, the sorbent or desiccant material is included in the sheet material an amount from about 30 to about 65 wt%, from about 40 to about 60 wt%, from about 50 to about 60 wt%, or from about 52 to about 58 wt% (DWB), based on the total weight of the sheet material. The sorbent or desiccant material

As used herein, the terms sorbent material and desiccant material refer to the characteristic property of readily taking up and retaining moisture. Thus, a material that is a sorbent or a desiccant is a material that readily takes up (by absorption or adsorption) and retains moisture.

In some embodiments of the invention, the sorbent or desiccant material may be selected from the group consisting of: oxides, alkali metal salts, alkaline earth metal salts; mono- and disaccharides; sugar alcohols and polybasic acids and salts thereof. The sorbent or desiccant material is selected from the group consisting of: sodium salts, potassium salts, magnesium salts, calcium salts, ammonium salts, and lithium salts.

The sorbent or desiccant material is selected from the group consisting of: magnesium oxide, potassium oxides, copper oxides, aluminium oxides, calcium oxides, sodium hydroxides, phosphorus pentoxides, silicon oxides, and salts thereof. In some embodiments the desiccant material is magnesium oxide.

In some embodiments of the invention, the sorbent or desiccant material may be selected from the group consisting of: sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate, sodium chloride, sodium bromide, sodium iodide, potassium nitrite, potassium nitrate, potassium chloride, potassium bromide, potassium iodide, potassium sulphate, potassium carbonate, potassium hydroxide, ammonium nitrate, ammonium chloride, ammonium sulphate, ammonium carbonate, calcium chloride, sucrose, fructose, glucose, galactose, sorbitol, xylitol, mannitol, citric acid and salts thereof, malic acid and salts thereof, and succinic acid and salts thereof.

The sorbent or desiccant material may be stored in reduced humidity conditions, for example less than about 30% humidity, prior to use according to the present invention.

Where the sorbent or desiccant material is incorporated into a sheet material, the sheet material may comprise from about 20 to about 80 wt% or about 30-70 wt% of the sorbent or desiccant material (all calculated on a diy weight basis). The sheet material may comprise at least about 20 wt%, about 25 wt%, about 30 wt%, about 35 wt%, about 40 wt%, about 45 wt%, about 50 wt%, about 55 wt%, or at least about 60 wt% of the sorbent or desiccant material (all calculated on a dry weight basis). Additionally or alternatively, the sheet material may comprise up to about 60 wt%, about 65 wt%, about 70 wt%, about 75 wt%, or up to about 80 wt%, of the sorbent or desiccant material (all calculated on a dry weight basis).

In some embodiments, the sorbent or desiccant material may be in the form of a solid material in particulate form, for example, a free-flowing powder. The sorbent or desiccant material in the form of a powder may be incorporated into the base material, or may be applied to the surface of the base material. In some embodiments, the sorbent or desiccant material in the form of a powder may be added to a solvent before it is incorporated into the base material. In such embodiments, the sorbent or desiccant material may be dissolved in the solvent, or may be dispersed in the solvent. The solvent may be an aqueous solvent.

In embodiments in which the sorbent or desiccant material is a powder, each particle of the powder may have a maximum dimension. As used herein, the term “maximum dimension” refers to the longest straight line distance from any point on the surface of a particle of sorbent or desiccant material or on a particle surface, to any other surface point on the same particle of sorbent or desiccant material, or particle surface. The maximum dimension of a particle of particulate tobacco material may be measured using scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

In some embodiments, the maximum dimension of each particle of sorbent or desiccant material in the sheet material is up to about 800 pm. In some embodiments, the maximum dimension of each particle of sorbent or desiccant material is up to about 2000 pm.

A population of particles of the sorbent or desiccant material may have a particle size distribution (D90) of at least about too pm. In some embodiments, a population of particles of the sorbent or desiccant material has a particle size distribution (D90) of at least 50 pm, of at least 60, of at least 70 pm, of at least 80 pm, of at least 90, of at least too pm, of at least no pm, of at least 120 pm, of at least 130 pm. In some embodiments, a population of particles of the sorbent or desiccant material has a particle size distribution (D90) of at most 720 pm, of at most 740 pm, of at most 760 pm, of at most 780 pm, of at most 800 pm, of at most 820 pm, of at most 840 pm, of at most 860 pm. Sieve analysis may be used to determine the particle size distribution of the particles of sorbent or desiccant material. Base material

Where the sorbent or desiccant material is incorporated into a sheet material, the sheet material may further comprise a base material. The base material may provide the sheet material with the desired or required structure and rigidity, for example so that the sheet material may maintain its shape when deformed, as discussed herein.

In some embodiments, the base material comprises paper, paperboard or card. In some embodiments, the base material consists of or consists substantially of paper, paperboard, a paper-based material or a paper-like material. In some embodiments, the sorbent or desiccant material is applied to paper, paperboard or card base material that is already in the form of a sheet. In such embodiments, the sorbent or desiccant material will tend to be present on one or more surfaces of the sheet of the base material. In other embodiments, the sorbent or desiccant material is incorporated into the paper or card as a sheet of the base material is manufactured. In these embodiments, the sorbent or desiccant material may be distributed throughout the base material, for example it may be distributed homogeneously throughout the base material. In some embodiments, the sorbent or desiccant material may be concentrated at or near the surface of the base material. In those embodiments where the sorbent or desiccant material is added to the formed base material, the base material may have a grammage (as assessed according to ISO 536) of from about 20 g/m² to about 90 g/m², from about 25 g/m² to about 35 g/m², or from about 55 g/m² to 65 g/m². In some embodiments, the grammage of the sheet form base material is at least about 15, at least about 20, at least about 25, at least about 30, at least about 35, at least about 40, at least about 45, at least about 50, at least about 60, at least about 70, at least about 80, at least about 90, at least about too, at least about no, at least about 120, at least about 130, at least about 140, at least about 150, at least about 160, at least about 180, at least about 190, at least about 200, at least about 210, at least about 220, at least about 230, at least about 240 g/m². In some embodiments, the grammage of the sheet form base material is no more than about 250, no more than about 240, no more than about 230, no more than about 220, no more than about 210, no more than about 200, no more than about 190, no more than about 180, no more than about 170, no more than about 160, no more than about 150, no more than about 140, no more than about 130, no more than about 120, no more than about no, no more than about too, no more than about 90, no more than about 80, no more than about 70, no more than about 60, no more than about 55, no more than about 50, no more than about 45, no more than about 40, no more than about 35, no more than about 30 g/m².

In some embodiments, the base material has a thickness of at least about 10 gm. In some cases, the base material has a thickness of at least about 50 gm, at least about too gm. In some cases, the base material has a maximum thickness of about too gm. In some cases, the base material has a maximum thickness over its area of at most about 500 gm, at most about 300 gm, at most about 200 gm, at most about too gm, at most about 95 gm, at most about 90 gm, at most about 85 gm, or at most about 80 gm.

The thickness of the sheet can be determined using ISO 534:2011 “Paper and Board- Determination of Thickness”.

In some embodiments, the base material is a porous paper, such as an air-laid paper. The porous structure of such a paper base material allows the sorbent or desiccant material to be readily added to the base material either during or after manufacture. The pores within this type of base material can accommodate and provide support for the particulate sorbent or desiccant material and the binder used to form the air-laid paper may help to hold the particles in place. The pores may also provide space around the particles and this may be beneficial as it means that the particles have room to swell as they absorb moisture, which can ensure that the desiccant effect of these particles is not hampered by physical constraints on their expansion. Incorporation of sheet material into a pack

In some embodiments of the invention, the sheet material is incorporated into a pack or packaging for storing the hygroscopic aerosol-generating material discussed herein. For example, the aerosol-generating material may be incorporated into an article or consumable which may be stored in the pack or packaging comprising the sheet material. For example, the article may be a Tobacco Heating Product (THP) for use in a non-combustible aerosol provision system.

In some embodiments of the invention, the sheet material is located near or in the vicinity of the aerosol-generating material. For example the sheet material may be located in the packing in the vicinity of a consumable comprising an aerosol-generating material. In some embodiments, the sheet material is used to form the inner bundle in the pack of consumables. This has the advantage that the sheet material has a desiccant effect on the aerosol-generating material, or the environment at least partially around the aerosol-generating material. This means that at least a portion of the aerosol-generating material is maintained in an at least partially dried environment, and reduces moisture available to be absorbed by the aerosol-generating material. This provides an improved environment for storing an aerosol-generating material. The desiccant properties are therefore advantageous when storing the consumable for example, within a device or pack, during transport, pre-sale storage and post-sale storage.

In some embodiments of the invention, the sheet material is incorporated into the pack as a box, an outer frame, an inner frame, an inner wrapper or an insert. This is advantageous, as the sheet material may contribute to a desiccant effect on the contents of the pack, which may, in some embodiments, include one or more articles comprising aerosol-generating material.

In some embodiments, the pack is provided to house one or more consumables for use in a non-combustible aerosol provision system. The pack may comprise one or more of such consumables. In these embodiments, the sheet material incorporated into the pack may provide a desiccant effect to one, some or all of the consumables. This provides an environment with a controlled moisture content for storage of the consumables, and reduces the moisture that the consumables are able to absorb, thus improving their shelf-life and the quality of the aerosol provided when these consumables are used in a non-combustible aerosol provision system.

In some embodiments, the pack comprises from about 5 mg to about too mg of sorbent or desiccant material.

The amount of the sheet material in the pack may be selected to provide a suitable desiccant effect. For example, this may be selected based on the size of the pack, or the nature of the consumable(s), or the distance between the sheet material and the aerosol-generating material.

In some embodiments, the sheet material of the invention is incorporated into a pack by forming at least one of the constituent parts of the pack from the sheet material.

Thus, the outer frame or the inner frame of a pack may comprise or consist of a sheet material according to the present invention. The sheet material may be the card or paperboard material from which a suitable blank is cut to be folded and assembled into the desired part of the carton or pack.

Additionally or alternatively, the sheet material may be used as an inner wrapper to wrap one or more of the articles to be located within the pack. In such embodiments, the sorbent or desiccant material may be in close proximity to the articles which may be advantageous.

Additionally or alternatively, the sheet material may be used as an insert and is included inside the pack along with one or more of the articles. This insert may be positioned adjacent to the articles within the pack but does not completely surround them (thus is does not act as a wrapper). In such embodiments, the insert may be a paper or paper-like sheet material or a stiffer paperboard or card sheet material.

Delivery Systems

The delivery systems described herein can be combustible aerosol provision systems, non-combustible aerosol provision systems or an aerosol-free delivery systems. As used herein, the term “delivery system” is intended to encompass systems that deliver at least one substance to a user, and includes: combustible aerosol provision systems, such as cigarettes, cigarillos, cigars, and tobacco for pipes or for roll-your-own or for make-your-own cigarettes (whether based on tobacco, tobacco derivatives, expanded tobacco, reconstituted tobacco, tobacco substitutes or other smokeable material); non-combustible aerosol provision systems that release compounds from an aerosol-generating material without combusting the aerosol-generating material, such as electronic cigarettes, tobacco heating products, and hybrid systems to generate aerosol using a combination of aerosol-generating materials; and aerosol-free deliveiy systems that deliver the at least one substance to a user orally, nasally, transdermally or in another way without forming an aerosol, including but not limited to, lozenges, gums, patches, articles comprising inhalable powders, and oral products such as oral tobacco which includes snus or moist snuff, wherein the at least one substance may or may not comprise nicotine.

According to the present disclosure, a “combustible” aerosol provision system is one where a constituent aerosol-generating material of the aerosol provision system (or component thereof) is combusted or burned during use in order to facilitate deliveiy of at least one substance to a user.

In some embodiments, the delivery system is a combustible aerosol provision system, such as a system selected from the group consisting of a cigarette, a cigarillo and a cigar.

In some embodiments, the disclosure relates to a component for use in a combustible aerosol provision system, such as a filter, a filter rod, a filter segment, a tobacco rod, a spill, an aerosol-modifying agent release component such as a capsule, a thread, or a bead, or a paper such as a plug wrap, a tipping paper or a cigarette paper.

According to the present disclosure, a “non-combustible” aerosol provision system is one where a constituent aerosol-generating material of the aerosol provision system (or component thereof) is not combusted or burned in order to facilitate delivery of at least one substance to a user. In some embodiments, the delivery system is a non-combustible aerosol provision system, such as a powered non-combustible aerosol provision system.

In some embodiments, the non-combustible aerosol provision system is an electronic cigarette, also known as a vaping device or electronic nicotine delivery system (END), although it is noted that the presence of nicotine in the aerosol-generating material is not a requirement.

In some embodiments, the non-combustible aerosol provision system is an aerosol- generating material heating system, also known as a heat-not-burn system. An example of such a system is a tobacco heating system.

In some embodiments, the non-combustible aerosol provision system is a hybrid system to generate aerosol using a combination of aerosol-generating materials, one or a plurality of which may be heated. Each of the aerosol-generating materials may be, for example, in the form of a solid, liquid or gel and may or may not contain nicotine.

In some embodiments, the hybrid system comprises a liquid or gel aerosol-generating material and a solid aerosol-generating material. The solid aerosol-generating material may comprise, for example, tobacco or a non-tobacco product.

Typically, the non-combustible aerosol provision system may comprise a non- combustible aerosol provision device and a consumable for use with the non- combustible aerosol provision device. In some embodiments, the disclosure relates to consumables comprising aerosolgenerating material and configured to be used with non-combustible aerosol provision devices. These consumables are sometimes referred to as articles throughout the disclosure. In some embodiments, the non-combustible aerosol provision system, such as a non- combustible aerosol provision device thereof, may comprise a power source and a controller. The power source may, for example, be an electric power source or an exothermic power source. In some embodiments, the exothermic power source comprises a carbon substrate which may be energised so as to distribute power in the form of heat to an aerosol-generating material or to a heat transfer material in proximity to the exothermic power source. In some embodiments, the non-combustible aerosol provision system may comprise an area for receiving the consumable, an aerosol generator, an aerosol generation area, a housing, a mouthpiece, a filter and/or an aerosol-modifying agent.

In some embodiments, the consumable for use with the non-combustible aerosol provision device may comprise a composition comprising the aerosol-generating material and sorbent material, an aerosol-generating material storage area, an aerosolgenerating material transfer component, an aerosol generator, an aerosol generation area, a housing, a wrapper, a filter, a mouthpiece, and/or an aerosol-modifying agent.

Figure i is a side-on cross sectional view of a consumable or article i for use in an aerosol delivery system. The article i comprises a mouthpiece segment 2, and an aerosol generating segment 3.

The aerosol generating segment 3 is in the form of a cylindrical rod and comprises a composition comprising an aerosol-generating material and sorbent material 4. The composition can be any of the materials discussed herein. Although described above in rod form, the aerosol-generating segment 3 can be provided in other forms, for instance a plug, pouch, or packet of material within an article.

The mouthpiece segment 2, in the illustrated embodiment, includes a body of material 5 such as a fibrous or filamentary tow.

The rod-shaped consumable 1 further comprises a wrapper 6 circumscribing the mouthpiece segment 2 and aerosol generating segment 3, such as a paper wrapper. Figure 2 shows an example of a non-combustible aerosol provision device too for generating aerosol from an aerosol-generating medium/material such as the aerosolgenerating material of a consumable no, as described herein. In broad outline, the device too may be used to heat a replaceable article no comprising the aerosolgenerating medium, for instance an article 1 as illustrated in Figure 1 or as described elsewhere herein, to generate an aerosol or other inhalable medium which is inhaled by a user of the device too. The device too and replaceable article no together form a system.

The device too comprises a housing 102 (in the form of an outer cover) which surrounds and houses various components of the device too. The device too has an opening 104 in one end, through which the article no may be inserted for heating by a heating assembly. In use, the article no may be fully or partially inserted into the heating assembly where it may be heated by one or more components of the heater assembly.

The device too of this example comprises a first end member 106 which comprises a lid 108 which is moveable relative to the first end member 106 to close the opening 104 when no article no is in place. In Figure 2, the lid 108 is shown in an open configuration, however the lid 108 may move into a closed configuration. For example, a user may cause the lid 108 to slide in the direction of arrow “B”.

The device too may also include a user-operable control element 112, such as a button or switch, which operates the device too when pressed. For example, a user may turn on the device too by operating the switch 112.

The device too may also comprise an electrical component, such as a socket/port 114, which can receive a cable to charge a batteiy of the device too. For example, the socket 114 may be a charging port, such as a USB charging port. In some embodiments, the substance to be delivered may be a composition comprising an aerosol-generating material and a sorbent material, and optionally another aerosolgenerating material that may or may not be heated. As appropriate, either material may comprise one or more active constituents, one or more flavours, one or more aerosol-former materials, and/ or one or more other functional materials.

Stability

The invention enjoys the advantage of longer shelflife than other tobacco extracts.

The nicotine content of the precursor and aerosol-generating material after the freeze diying process has been calculated, providing an indication of the amount of nicotine retained following the processing. Compared to the original tobacco extract, the nicotine recovery of the dried aerosol generating material is at least about 76 wt% on a dry weight basis. The nicotine recoveiy of the dried aerosol generating material compared to the original tobacco extract may be at least about 60%, at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, or at least about 90% on a diy weight basis.

The glycerol content of the precursor and dried aerosol-generating material after the freeze diying process has been calculated, providing an indication of the amount of glycerol retained following the processing. Compared to the precursor material, the glycerol recovery of the dried aerosol generating material is at least about 85%. The glycerol recovery of the dried aerosol generating material compared to the precursor material may be at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90% at least about 95% on a dry weight basis.

In addition, in some embodiments, as a result of the presence of the sorbent material, there is reduced moisture update by the aerosol-generating material so that the content of volatile components such as nicotine or other actives and flavours, and the content of the aerosol-forming material in the aerosol-generating material will be substantially maintained until the composition is heated to generate an aerosol. This may even be achieved without packaging or other protection from exposure to moisture.

Example 1

In a first test, the precursor material comprised essentially of aqueous tobacco extract, and glycerol. The aqueous tobacco extract was diluted further with glycerol up to about 24 wt% (calculated on a diy weight basis). The Burley aqueous tobacco extract had a tobacco solid content of about 40 wt%, and a water content of about 60 wt%. The precursor material was dried via freeze drying.

Example 2

In a further test, the precursor material comprised essentially of aqueous tobacco extract, glycerol and Dextran 70. The glycerol content was about o to about 15 v/v%, or up to about 36 wt% calculated on a dry weight basis. The precursor material was dried via freeze drying.

Example 3 To assess the relative rates of absorption of the dried materials of Examples 1 and 2, and potential the sorbents to be used in this invention equal amounts of the materials were provided in open containers and exposed to a relative humidity of 90%. After a period of 2 days, the materials were weighed to assess which had absorbed the most moisture. Sorbents that absorb or adsorb more moisture than the aerosol-generating material (i.e. gained more weight than the aerosol-generating materials) are suitable for use. Preferred sorbents gain at least 10% or, preferably, at least 50% more weight than an aerosol-generating material.

Example 4

50 mg of the freeze-dried material of Example 1 or Example 2 is ground to form a particles with an average size of from about 1 mm to about 3 mm and blended with 10 mg of calcium carbonate or silica gel. This blend is then added to a container further comprising a susceptor as a heater for heating the aerosol generating material when the container is used in an aerosol-generating device. Example

10 separate portions, each comprising 5 mg of the freeze-dried material of Example 1 or Example 2 and 1 mg of sodium acrylic acid, are deposited on the surface of a support comprising aluminium sections which can be heated by magnetic hysteresis heating.

The support and the portions comprising the aerosol-generating material are then heated to form an aerosol to be inhaled by a consumer.

Example 6

A tablet is formed by pressing too mg of the freeze-dried material of Example 1 or Example 2. This tablet is included in the aerosol-generating segment of a consumable. An adjacent upstream section of the consumable comprises a cavity in which too mg of silica gel or activated carbon is placed.

Example 7

A consumable is provided comprising a freeze-dried material of Example 1 or Example 2. This is packaged in a box that includes a sorbent provided in a sachet. During storage, the sorbent absorbs moisture within the packaging, to reduce the amount of moisture absorbed by the aerosol-generating material. When the consumable is to be used, it is removed from the packaging. The various embodiments described herein are presented only to assist in understanding and teaching the claimed features. These embodiments are provided as a representative sample of embodiments only, and are not exhaustive and/or exclusive.

It is to be understood that advantages, embodiments, examples, functions, features, structures, and/or other aspects described herein are not to be considered limitations on the scope of the invention as defined by the claims or limitations on equivalents to the claims, and that other embodiments may be utilised and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the claimed invention. Various embodiments of the invention may suitably comprise, consist of, or consist essentially of, appropriate combinations of the disclosed elements, components, features, parts, steps, means, etc., other than those specifically described herein. In addition, this disclosure may include other inventions not presently claimed, but which may be claimed in future.

Claims

1. A composition comprising: an aerosol-generating material comprising a dried precursor material comprising an extract from a flavour- and/ or active-containing plant material, and a sorbent material.

2. A composition as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sorbent material is more hygroscopic than the aerosol-generating material.

3. A composition as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the sorbent material holds the absorbed or adsorbed moisture at a temperature of up to about too°C.

4. A composition as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the sorbent material comprises one or more selected from the group consisting of: silica gel, molecular sieves, activated carbon, zeolites, sodium aciylic acid, and simple salts, carbonates and hydroxides, such as alkaline earth metal or alkali metal salts, carbonates and hydrides, for example calcium chloride, sodium chloride, magnesium sulphate, potassium carbonate and sodium hydroxide

5. A composition as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the sorbent material is present on the surface of the aerosol-generating material.

6. A composition as claimed in any one of claim 5, wherein the sorbent material forms an incomplete coating surrounding the aerosol-generating material.

7. A composition as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein particles of the sorbent material are mixed with particles of the aerosol-generating material.

8. A composition as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the aerosolgenerating material is in the form of particles or granules.

9. A composition as claimed in claim 8, wherein the particles or granules of the aerosol-generating material have an average size of from about 1 pm to about 3 mm.

10. A composition as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the aerosolgenerating material is in the form of agglomerates or tablets formed from particles.

11. A composition as claimed in claim 10, wherein the agglomerates or tablets of the aerosol-generating material have an average size from about 3 mm to about 20 mm.

12. A composition as claimed in claim 10 or claim 11, wherein the sorbent material is included in the agglomerates or tablets of the aerosol-generating material.

13. A composition as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the aerosolgenerating material comprises an aerosol-former material.

14. A composition as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 13, the precursor material comprising from about 10 to about 95% by weight extract from a flavour- or active- containing plant material.

15. A composition as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 14, the precursor material comprising from about 1 to about 36 wt% aerosol-former material.

16. A composition as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 15, the precursor material comprising from o to about 40% by weight of an excipient.

17. A composition as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 16, the aerosol-generating material comprising from about 45 to about 99% by weight dried extract from the flavour- or active-containing plant material.

18. A composition as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 17, the aerosol-generating material comprising from about 1 to about 34% by weight aerosol-former material.

19. A composition as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 18, the aerosol-generating material comprising from o to about 25% by weight of an excipient.

20. A composition as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 19, wherein the plant material is selected from the group consisting of tobacco, eucalyptus, star anise, cocoa and hemp.

21. A composition as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 20, wherein the extract from a flavour- or active-containing plant material is an aqueous extract.

22. A composition as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 21, wherein the extract from a flavour- or active-containing plant material is an aqueous tobacco extract.

23. A composition as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 22, the aerosol-generating material comprising from about 40 to about 99% by weight tobacco solids.

24. A composition as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 23, the aerosol-generating material having a water content of no more than about 5%.

25. A composition as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 24 for use in an aerosol provision system.

26. An article comprising an aerosol-generating material comprising a dried precursor material comprising an extract from a flavour- and/or active-containing plant material, and a sorbent.

27. An article as claimed in claim 26, comprising the composition as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 25.

28. An article as claimed in claim 26, wherein the aerosol-generating material and the sorbent are provided separately within the article.

29. A non-combustible aerosol-provision system comprising a composition as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 24 or an article as claimed in any one of claims 26 to 28.

30. A pack comprising an article comprising an aerosol-generating material comprising a dried precursor material comprising an extract from a flavour- and/or active-containing plant material, and a sorbent.

31. A pack as claimed in claim 30, wherein the sorbent is separate from the article.

32. A pack as claimed in claim 31, wherein the sorbent is provided in a separate item, such as a sachet or sheet.

33. A pack as claimed in claim 32, wherein the sorbent is provided in a packaging material that is removed from the article before the article is used to generate an aerosol.

34. A method of providing a composition comprising drying a precursor material comprising an extract from a flavour- and/or active-containing plant material and an aerosol-former material to form an aerosol-generating material, and adding a sorbent material to the aerosol-generating material.

35. A method as claimed in claim 34, wherein the precursor material is dried by spray-drying or freeze-drying.

36. A method as claimed in claim 34 or claim 35, wherein the sorbent is added in the form of a non-continuous coating on the surface of the aerosol-generating material.

37. A method as claimed in claim 36, wherein the adsorbent material is mixed with the dried aerosol-generating material.

38. A method as claimed in any one of claims 34 to 37, wherein the aerosolgenerating material is agglomerated.