A porous adsorbent material bearing quaternary ammonium basic groups was synthesized by suspension copolymerization and the corresponding functionalization and then modified by the load of strongly hydrophilic substances. The structure of obtained hydrophilic quaternary ammonium functionalized porous material (HQAFPM) was characterized by FT-IR, N element analysis and nitrogen adsorption at 77K (a Micromeritics TriStar 3020M analyser was used and the surface area and the adsorption average pore width (4V/A by BET) were calculated using the BET method). The results showed that the prepared material with porous structure and relatively high specific surface area had been successfully modified by quaternary ammonium and hydrophilic substances. The effects of different functional reagents, hydrophilic substances and their concentrations on the removal of HCN from cigarette smoke were investigated using a model reactor, the results indicated that HQAFPM could significantly reduce hydrogen cyanide (HCN), and the material functionalized by Girard's reagent and modified by polyvinyl alcohol in 1% solution possessed the highest HCN reduction rate (48.2%). The obtained material was applied in the dual filter of cigarettes, the deliveries of HCN and crotonaldehyde in mainstream cigarette smoke were selectively reduced by 27.5% and 19.3%, respectively, compared with reference cigarettes, while the deliveries of tar, nicotine, CO, B[a]P, NNK, NH3 and phenol changed little. The hazard index of the cigarette reduced by 0.7, while its sensory quality was almost unchanged. It was indicated that HQAFPM was a promising filter additive for selectively reducing HCN in mainstream cigarette smoke.