Patent 9986760 was granted and assigned to Altria on June, 2018 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
An electronic smoking article includes a liquid supply region including liquid material and a heater-wick element operable to wick liquid material and heat the liquid material to a temperature sufficient to vaporize the liquid material and form an aerosol. The heater-wick element comprises a plurality of fused metal beads or particles.