Smoking articles enhanced to deliver additives incorporated within electroprocessed microcapsules and nanocapsules, and related methods

Abstract

A large variety of electroprocessed capsules can be produced to encapsulate a variety of additives within the subcompartments or substructures of the manufactured capsule. Furthermore, the manufactured capsules can be arranged within a filter of a smoking article during the manufacturing process. By modifying the various parameters that control the electrospraying or electrospinning processes, capsules can be manufactured that vary in composition, in substructural organization, and in dimension. A capsule produced by electrospraying comprises at least one polymeric material that encapsulates or supports the retention of at least one flavorant and/or non-flavorant within the capsule. A polymeric material provides a supporting structure for encapsulating at least one flavorant and/or non-flavorant additive. The capsules that can be produced by various electrospraying processes described below include microcapsules in a micro-scaled range, nanocapsules in a nano-scaled range, and various mixtures of microcapsules and nanocapsules.