Used Cigarette Filters as Alternative Glue
A cigarette filter is use to strain the dangerous ingredients of the cigarette. Most of the Filipinos are smokers or cigarette users, which is one of the reasons that relieves their stress because it contains nicotine which helps us to calm down, but unfortunately they just throw their waste anywhere and because of this habit we are challenged to find a way to help our beloved country on its campaign against improper disposal of garbage. The aim of this research is to find a cheaper and easily made alternative for glue, because glue is useful product especially to the students like us, teachers, office workers, and etc.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
This study is to investigate the feasibility of cigarette filter as the source of adhesive.
Specifically, this aims to:
1. Determine the level of feasibility of cigarette filter as glue in terms of the following criteria:
a. Color
b. Odor
c. Appearance
d. State/form
e. Stickiness
2. Determine the effectiveness of the cigarette filter as glue compared to the commercial glue.
3. Determine the binding capacity of the cigarette filter melted from the acetone.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
According to the research, The organic compound (CH3)2CO, or acetone, is a translucent flammable liquid that exhibits a high degree of solvency that is why it can dissolve cigarette filters. Many compounds are soluble when exposed to acetone.
This study would benefit the community since it will provide them a way on how they can help our community reduce the garbage and also to make and use a cheaper product.
Scope and Limitations
This article is restricted by their stickiness. There are many types of glues but this glue differ according to it's class. This glue that we produce can't be used as stick glue because the glue that we produce is fluid. This article is qualified only for paper.
Review of Related Literature and Related Studies
According to the research that was done by Mr. Benjamin E. Russ of University of California, the reason why adhesives are sticky because they are essentially high in viscosity liquids that also have some elastic characteristics. The viscoelastic means that they exhibit some of the characteristics of liquids, & so they will 'wet' a surface to w/c they are pressed, but because of their elasticity, they will resist separation when stressed.
Theoretical Studies
Most cigarette filters are made from cellulose acetate. Cigarette filters contain twelve thousand plastic-based fibers, and like many other forms of plastic are not biodegradable.The raw material for the manufacture of cigarette filters is cellulose (obtained from wood). The cellulose is acetylated (i.e. making it into a material called cellulose acetate or simply "acetate" for short), dissolved, and spun as continuous synthetic fibers arranged into a bundle called tow.
Cellulose was discovered in 1838 by the French chemist Anselme Payen, who isolated it from plant matter and determined its chemical formula. Cellulose was used to produce the first successful thermoplastic polymer, celluloid, by Hyatt Manufacturing Company in 1870.
Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula (C 6H 10O 5)n, a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of β(1→4) linked D-glucose units. Cellulose is an important structural component of the primary cell wall of green plants, many forms of algae and the oomycetes. Some species of bacteria secrete it to form biofilms. Cellulose is the most abundant organic polymer on Earth. The cellulose content of cotton fiber is 90%, that of wood is 40–50% and that of dried hemp is approximately 45%. Cellulose is mainly used to produce paperboard and paper. Smaller quantities are converted into a wide variety of derivative products such as cellophane and rayon. Cellulose for industrial use is mainly obtained from wood pulp and cotton.
Acetone (systematically named propanone) is the organic compound with the formula (CH3)2CO. It is a colorless, volatile, flammable liquid, and is the simplest ketone. Acetone is a good solvent for many plastics and some synthetic fibers. It is used for thinning polyester resin, cleaning tools used with it, and dissolving two-part epoxies and superglue before they harden.
METHODOLOGY
A. MATERIALS AND APPARATUS
used cigarette filter cylinders
acetone stirring rod
closed container/ bottle papers
with a cap
beakers weighing scale
B. PREPARATION
15 sticks of used cigarette filters were prepared then washed with a clean water and then dried under the sun for about 2 hours. Then cutted into small cubes.
An amount of 5 ml acetone was prepared into a cylinder.
C. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
The materials were gathered.
The cigarette filter cubes were gently put into the container.
Then the 5 ml acetone was slowly poured into the container.
Then stirred gradually.
The container/ bottle was covered with a tight cap and were shaken for about 30 seconds.
Results and Discussions
The glue from cigarette filter had undergone a several test. It was tested in papers and card boards to found out what appropriate concentration is effective as glue, at the same time what materials is it best used. The data below shows the effectiveness of glue from cigarette filter.
Pieces of cigarette filter in 5 ml acetone:
- 10
- 14
Paper:
- effective
- effective
Cardboard:
- not effective
- not effective
The other test was the difference between the glue from cigarette filter and commercial glue. This test aims to find out the similarities and differences of the compared glues. The data below shows the differences.
Color:
- white
- brown
Odor:
- unpleasant
- unpleasant
Texture:
- sticky
- sticky
The results indicated that commercial glue is still most preferred among the glue from cigarette filter because of its stickiness property. But it can be concluded that glue from cigarette filter was able to achieve the other characteristic such as color, odor and texture.
Conclusions
Evaporation process were done to create glue from cigarette filter using acetone as solvent.
It was found out that the glue from cigarette filter has lesser stickiness property than a commercial glue. It also dries quickly. Nevertheless, the glue from cigarette filter was able to encounter the standard properties of glue.
It was concluded that the use of recycled stuff as a substitute of commercial glue for paper is feasible.
