Smoking article

A smoking article comprising:

• a lighting end;
• a mouth end;
• an aerosol-generation system, the aerosol generation system comprising an aerosol-generating segment and a heat generation segment, said heat generation segment having a length and including a heat source, each segment being physically separate and in a heat exchange relationship, wherein the heat source comprises a fuel element, the fuel element comprising an outer shell of carbonaceous material and an inner core of carbonaceous material, the outer shell of the fuel element surrounding the inner core of the fuel element, wherein the carbonaceous material of the inner core is in intimate contact with both coarse, fine or ultrafine particles of cerium oxide and a metal halide, and wherein the coarse, fine or ultrafine particles of cerium oxide are disposed on a metal oxide substrate;
• a wrapping material providing an overwrap around at least a portion of the length of the heat generation segment;
• and
• an insulation layer surrounding the outer shell of the fuel element, wherein the insulation layer comprises an inner layer, an intermediate layer and an outer layer.