Lim Min Yee, Zhang Xinyue, Huang Jian, Liu Liang, Liu Yutang, Zhao Baixiao, Hu Hui, He Furong, Xie Junjie, Qiu Dongsheng
International School, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100029, China.
School of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Tuina, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100029, China.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2021 Feb 16;2021:6298565. doi: 10.1155/2021/6298565. eCollection 2021.
Moxa floss is a type of biomass used as the main combustion material in moxibustion, a therapy that applies heat from moxa floss combustion to points or body areas for treatment. Safety concerns regarding moxa smoke have been raised in recent years. Since moxa floss is the source material in moxibustion, its thermal behavior and pyrolysis products would be related to the products formed in moxa smoke. This work aims to understand the thermal behavior of moxa floss and investigate the pyrolysis products generated from moxa floss combustion. Six commercial moxa floss samples of 3 storage years and 10 storage years, and of low, medium, and high ratios, were selected. The kinetic data from moxa floss combustion was carried out by a thermogravimetric analyzer. Pyrolysis-gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy using a gas chromatograph and mass spectrometer equipped with a pyroprobe were used to examine the pyrolysis products. Thermogravimetric profiles for all the samples were overall similar and showed a monotonic weight decrease. The range of intensive reaction temperature occurred between 150°C and 450°C, which was characterized by a major weight loss and accompanied by an exothermal degradation of the main components. The average ignition temperature for the samples of 3 and 10 storage years was 218.3°C and 222.6°C, respectively, which was lower than most herbaceous plants. The identified pyrolysis products include monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, ketones, acids, and alkanes. All were of relatively low intensities of below 5% in relative abundance. No volatiles were detected in the samples of 10 storage years. The relatively low values of ignition temperature suggested that moxa floss is more combustible and can be ignited more easily than other herbaceous plants. This may explain why moxa floss has remained as the preferred material used for moxibustion over the years.
艾绒是一种生物质，用作艾灸的主要燃烧材料。艾灸是一种将艾绒燃烧产生的热量施用于穴位或身体部位进行治疗的疗法。近年来，人们对艾烟的安全性提出了担忧。由于艾绒是艾灸的源材料，其热行为和热解产物与艾烟中形成的产物有关。这项工作旨在了解艾绒的热行为，并研究艾绒燃烧产生的热解产物。选择了6个储存3年和10年的商业艾绒样品，以及低、中、高比例的样品。通过热重分析仪进行艾绒燃烧的动力学数据测定。使用配备热解探针的气相色谱仪和质谱仪的热解气相色谱-质谱联用技术来检测热解产物。所有样品的热重曲线总体相似，呈现出单调的重量下降。剧烈反应温度范围在150℃至450℃之间，其特征是主要重量损失，并伴有主要成分的放热降解。储存3年和10年的样品的平均着火温度分别为218.3℃和222.6℃，低于大多数草本植物。鉴定出的热解产物包括单环芳烃、多环芳烃、酮、酸和烷烃。所有这些产物的相对丰度强度都相对较低，低于5%。在储存10年的样品中未检测到挥发性物质。相对较低的着火温度值表明，艾绒比其他草本植物更易燃，更容易点燃。这可能解释了为什么多年来艾绒一直是艾灸首选的材料。
