Molecular weight fractionation of humic substances by adsorption onto minerals

Molecular weight (MW) fractionation of Suwannee River fulvic acid (SRFA) and purified Aldrich humic acid (PAHA) by adsorption onto kaolinite and hematite was investigated in equilibrium and rate experiments with a size-exclusion chromatography system using ultraviolet (UV) light detection. The extent of adsorptive fractionation based on UV detection was positively correlated with the percent carbon adsorption for both humic substances (HS), although the specific fractionation pattern observed depended on the particular HS and mineral used. Higher MW fractions of SRFA, an aquatic HS, were preferentially adsorbed to both kaolinite and hematite whereas the fractionation trends for PAHA, a terrestrial peat HS, differed for the two minerals. The contrasting fractionation patterns for SRFA versus PAHA can be explained reasonably well by the different structural trends that occur in their respective MW fractions and the underlying adsorption processes. Rate studies of adsorptive fractionation revealed an initial rapid uptake of smaller HS molecules by the mineral surfaces, followed by their replacement at the surface by a much slower uptake of the larger HS molecules present in aqueous solution.     

Adsorption of humic substances by macro weakly basic ion-exchange resin and their effects on removal of Cu2+ and Pb2+

<正>Adsorption ofhumic,tannic and gallic acids by a macro weakly basic ion-exchange resin JN-01 was studied.The adsorption capacity of this resin for gallic and tannic acids is much higher than that for humie acid,which can be explained on the basis of both their molecular size and ionization degree.Furthermore,humic acid is separated into different components with molecular weight in the range from 2000 Da to 100000 Da by ultra-filter,and their adsorption isotherms on resin JN-01 indicate that humic acid's molecular weight is an important factor which makes significant influence on adsorption.Finally,changes in the amount of Cu~(2+) and Pb~(2+) adsorbed on resin JN-01 as a function of the concentration of each of these three acids were studied.A large increase in the heavy metal ions uptake is observed in the presence of humic substance,such advantages are due to the interactions between the heavy metal ions and the unbound functional groups of the adsorbed organic acids.     

Effects of pH and phosphate on the adsorptive fractionation of purified Aldrich humic acid on kaolinite and hematite

The molecular weight (MW) fractionation of purified Aldrich humic acid (PAHA) resulting from adsorption on kaolinite and hematite was investigated for different solution pH and phosphate conditions. Adsorption was highly pH-dependent, with higher uptake at lower pH values. For all pH conditions, the weight-average MW (MWw) of residual PAHA remaining in solution after adsorption deviated from the original MWw, indicating that preferential adsorption of certain MW components occurred. The extent of preferential adsorption depended on the percent carbon adsorption at a given pH condition. For similar percent carbon adsorption ranges, a greater extent of preferential adsorption of the higher MW PAHA components was observed with higher pH values as demonstrated by the lowest residual MWw value occurring at pH 9. Detailed analyses of selected residual PAHA samples clearly showed that adsorption selectivity for particular MW components was strongly influenced by solution pH. The extent of preferential adsorption of lower MW PAHA components decreased in the presence of a small amount of phosphate. This effect was more evident for hematite than kaolinite, and became greater with lower solution pH irrespective of the mineral type. The different fractionation patterns observed for PAHA were reasonably well explained by the physicochemical trends occurring in its MWw fractions and the underlying sorption processes.     

Adsorption of atrazine from aqueous electrolyte solutions on humic acid and silica

The adsorption of, the still widely used, herbicide atrazine on model soil components, such as humic acid and humic acid-silica gel mixtures, was investigated in a series of batch experiments, under different experimental conditions (ionic strength, temperature, and pH). The investigation aimed at obtaining an estimate of the contribution of each of the soil components on the adsorption of atrazine from aqueous solutions. The kinetics of atrazine adsorption on humic acid showed two steps: a fast step, of a few hours duration, and a second slow step, which continued for weeks. The kinetics of adsorption data gave a satisfactory fit to the Elovich equation. Τhe adsorption of atrazine on the test substrates was found to be reversible in all cases. The atrazine uptake data on the test substrates were fitted best with the Freundlich adsorption isotherm. The ionic strength of the atrazine aqueous solutions did affect the amount of the atrazine adsorbed on the test substrates, suggesting that electrostatic forces between atrazine molecules and soil play a significant role in the adsorption process. An increase of temperature resulted in a decrease of atrazine adsorption on humic acid at low atrazine equilibrium concentrations. However, for higher levels of equilibrium concentrations (≥3 mg/L) the amount of atrazine adsorbed onto the test substrate increased as temperature increased. The calculated isosteric enthalpies of adsorption ranged between slightly exothermic at low atrazine uptake and slightly endothermic at high atrazine uptake, all values being in the range of physisorption.     

Kinetic study on the sorption of dissolved natural organic matter onto different aquifer materials: the effects of hydrophobicity and functional groups

The subsurface sorption of Suwannee River fulvic acid (SRFA) and humic acid (SRHA) onto a synthetic aquifer material (iron-oxide-coated quartz) and two natural aquifer materials (Ringold sediment and Bemidji soils) was studied in both batch and column experiments. The hypothesis that hydrophobic effects followed by ligand exchange are the dominant mechanism contributing to the chemical sorption happening between dissolved natural organic matter (NOM) and the mineral surfaces is supported by observations of several phenomena: nonlinear isotherms, faster sorption rates versus slower desorption rates, phosphate competition, a solution pH increase during NOM sorption, and functional groups and aromaticity-related sorption. In addition, high-pressure size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) and carboxylic acidity showed that lower molecular weight NOM components of SRHA are preferentially sorbed to iron oxide, a result in contrast to that for SRFA. Phosphate increased the desorption of sorbed NOM as well as soil organic matter. All of these trends support ligand exchange as the dominant reaction between NOM and the iron oxide surfaces; however, if the soil surface has been occupied by soil organic matter, then the sorption of NOM is more due to hydrophobic effect.     

Simultaneous adsorption of copper ions and humic acid onto an activated carbon

In this study, simultaneous adsorption of copper ions and humic acid (HA) from Aldrich onto an activated carbon is investigated. It is found that the HA adsorption in the absence of copper decreases as the pH is increased. It leads to a reduction of 34.7% in the specific surface area of carbon. There exists a critical concentration (CC) of HA for copper adsorption. At HA concentrations < CC, a decrease in copper adsorption is observed; however, the HA improves the adsorption at HA concentrations > CC. An increase in ionic strength can enhance the copper uptake; however, zinc and/or cobalt ions have an insignificant influence on copper adsorption. The adsorption is significantly increased by citric acid, whereas addition of EDTA slightly decreases the uptake. An intraparticle diffusion model is successfully used to describe the copper adsorption kinetics.     

Modification of the Quartz Surface by the Adsorption of a Cationic Polyelectrolyte

A capillary electrokinetics method is applied to measure the electrokinetic potential of the surface of quartz capillaries during the continuous flow of the aqueous solutions of a cationic polyelectrolyte (PE). At a low polymer concentration (10^–5 g/l), the adsorption is determined mainly by the electrostatic forces and its kinetics, by the conformational rearrangement of adsorbed macromolecules. As the concentration of PE increases, the charge of quartz surface reverses; and further adsorption is due to the forces of hydrophobic and molecular attraction between macromolecules. The adsorption energy is estimated for this case. The charge reversal of the surface is associated with the presence of adsorption sites of two different types. At a low concentration of PE, the adsorption takes place on negatively charged sites of quartz surface. At higher concentrations of PE, after the neutralization of the surface, the adsorbed PE molecules become new adsorption sites, and the adsorption acquires two-layer character. After adsorption, the quartz surface is hydrophobized: the contact angle measured by the bubble method is close to 33°–34°.     

Competitive adsorption of organic matter with phosphate on aluminum hydroxide

The effects of orthophosphate on the adsorption of natural organic matter (NOM) on aluminum hydroxide were investigated using three organic compounds as surrogates, including humic acid (HA), phthalic acid, and 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid (2,3-DHBA). The adsorption of phthalic acid and 2,3-DHBA was very limited compared to that of HA, whereas their adsorption was reduced much more significantly than that of HA by phosphate. The efficiency of phosphate in reducing HA adsorption increased with increasing phosphate concentration. Phosphate adsorption was slightly reduced by phthalic acid and 2,3-DHBA but moderately suppressed by HA. The adjacent carboxylic groups mainly contributed to the adsorption of humic acid at low pH, while the adjacent phenol groups were responsible for the adsorption of humic acid at high pH. HPLC-SEC and SUVA analysis revealed that HA molecules with high molecular weight were adsorbed preferentially but were easily displaced by the specifically adsorbed phosphate. TM-AFM images revealed that the aggregation of HA molecules and the protonation of carboxylic groups at low pH facilitated the adsorption under acidic conditions. The presence of phosphate increases the coagulant dosage for NOM removal as some sites on the coagulant precipitates become utilized by phosphate.     

Influence of nanobubbles on the adsorption of nanoparticles

A quartz crystal microbalance was used to study the influence of nanobubbles on the adsorption of polystyrene nanoparticles onto surfaces coated with gold, or coated with dodecanethiol or mercaptoundecanoic acid self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). Adsorption of the nanoparticles onto the surface causes the resonant frequency of the quartz crystal to decrease. We found that particles were adsorbed onto the gold-coated quartz crystal in air-rich water, but not in degassed water. This finding supports the long-standing hypothesis that nanobubbles play a key role in the long-range attractive force between hydrophobic surfaces in aqueous solutions. When the experiments were conducted using quartz crystals coated with a hydrophobic dodecanethiol SAM, the nanoparticles were adsorbed onto the surface even in degassed water due to the short-range hydrophobic interactions between the nanoparticles and the dodecanethiol molecules. In contrast, the nanoparticles were adsorbed to a lesser degree onto the hydrophilic mercaptoundecanoic acid-coated crystals due to electrostatic repulsive forces.     

Humic acid fractionation upon sequential adsorption onto goethite

Mineral-humic complexes are commonly distributed in natural environments and are important in regulating the transport and retention of hydrophobic organic contaminants in soils and sediments. This study investigated the structural and conformational changes of humic acid (HA) and mineral-HA complexes after sequential HA adsorption by goethite, using UV-visible spectroscopy, high performance size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The HA remaining in the solution after adsorption showed low polarity index values ((N+O)/C), which indicates that polar functional moieties are likely to adsorb on the goethite surface. In addition, we observed decreased E4/E6 and E2/E3 ratios of unbound HA with increasing number of coatings, implying that aliphatic rich HA fractions with polar functional moieties readily adsorb to the goethite surface. According to IR spectra, carbohydrate carbon would be the important fractions associated with goethite. NMR spectra provided evidence for HA fractionation during adsorption onto the mineral surface; that is, aliphatic fractions were preferentially adsorbed by goethite while aromatic fractions were left in solution. Relatively small molecular weight (MW) HA fractions had a greater affinity for the goethite surface based on analyses of the HPSEC chromatograms, which differs from the results reported in the literature. Finally, our results suggest that the polar aliphatic fractions of HA were mainly adsorbed to goethite via electrostatic attraction and/or ligand exchange reactions.     

Adsorption kinetics of L-glutathione on gold and structural changes during self-assembly: an in situ ATR-IR and QCM study

The adsorption of L-glutathione (gamma-Glu-Cys-Gly) from ethanol on gold surfaces was studied in situ by both attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy and using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). The molecule is firmly anchored to the gold surface through the thiol group. Different IR signals of adsorbed L-glutathione, notably the amide I and nu(-COOH), show significantly different behavior with time, which reveals that their increase is not related to adsorption (mass uptake) alone. This indicates that structural transformations take place during the formation of the self-assembled monolayer (SAM). In particular, the intensity of the acid signal increases quickly only within the first couple of minutes. The complexity of the self-assembling process is confirmed by QCM measurements, which show fast mass uptake within about 100 s followed by a considerably slower regime. The structural change superimposed on the mass uptake is, based on the in situ time-resolved ATR-IR measurements, assigned to the interaction of the acid group of the Gly moiety with the surface. The latter group is protonated in ethanol but deprotonates upon interaction with the gold surface. The protonation-deprotonation equilibrium is sensitive to external stimuli, such as the presence of dissolved L-glutathione molecules. The interaction of the acid group with the surface and concomitant deprotonation proceeds via two distinguishable steps, the first being a reorientation of the molecule, followed by the deprotonation.     

Adsorption of nitrobenzene from aqueous solution by MCM-41

Adsorption of nitrobenzene onto mesoporous molecular sieves (MCM-41) from aqueous solution has been investigated systematically using batch experiments in this study. Results indicate that nitrobenzene adsorption is initially rapid and the adsorption process reaches a steady state after 1 min. The adsorption isotherms are well described by the Langmuir and the Freundlich models, the former being found to provide the better fit with the experimental data. The effects of temperature, pH, ionic strength, humic acid, and the presence of solvent on adsorption processes are also examined. According to the experimental results, the amount of nitrobenzene adsorbed decreases with an increase of temperature from 278 to 308 K, pH from 1.0 to 11.0, and ionic strength from 0.001 to 0.1 mol/L. However, the amount of nitrobenzene adsorbed onto MCM-41 does not show notable difference in the presence of humic acid. The presence of organic solvent results in a decrease in nitrobenzene adsorption. The desorption process shows a reversibility of nitrobenzene adsorption onto MCM-41. Thermodynamic parameters such as Gibbs free energy are calculated from the experimental data at different temperatures. Based on the results, it suggests that the adsorption is primarily brought about by hydrophobic interaction between nitrobenzene and MCM-41 surface.     

Adsorption of bovine serum albumin onto poly(methyl methacrylate) stereocomplex films with a molecularly regulated nanostructure

Stereoregular poly(methyl methacrylate)s (PMMAs) were stepwise assembled on a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) substrate after the immersion of the QCM into alternating acetonitrile solutions at ambient temperature. A quantitative QCM analysis at each step showed stereocomplex formation on the substrate surface. The adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA) onto stereocomplex films with a molecularly regulated nanostructure was analyzed quantitatively. The adsorption constant and the maximum adsorption amount, calculated by the assumption of Langmuir‐type adsorption, showed that BSA adsorbed with a relatively weak interaction onto the stereocomplex films. The BSA adsorption onto the stereocomplex films occurred in an end‐on manner, with a smaller adsorption constant than for that onto individual spin‐coated films. The amount of BSA adsorbed was significantly affected by the molecular weight of syndiotactic PMMA. Attenuated total reflection spectra indicated that BSA adsorbed onto the films with or without denaturing. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 1807–1812, 2003     

Kinetics of radioeuropium sorption on Gorleben sand from aqueous solutions and ground water

Kinetics of Eu sorption on sandy sediment from Gorleben, Germany, containing humic substances, was studied by radiotracer method in batch experiments at very low europium concentration (3.4^.10^-8 mol/l), with the aim to find kinetic parameters suitable for modeling Eu migration in bed of the sediment and to elucidate the mechanism of the sorption. Experiments were evaluated using a new simplified method taking into account simultaneous sorption/desorption of Eu on the walls of sorption vessel. Five kinetic functions were tested, of which that describing diffusion in inert surface layer of sorbent proved most suitable. The effects of pH (3.0-8.8) by addition of Aldrich humic acid (10 mg/l), addition of hydrogencarbonates (5^.10^-3 mol/l) and preequilibration of the sediment with solution or of Eu with solution were examined. From the results it has been concluded that the kinetics and mechanism of the sorption strongly depend on pH. At pH 4.8 Eu is sorbed mainly as humate complex from the solution of humic acid. The addition of humic acid accelerates the sorption. Carbonate complexes of Eu are the probable forms sorbed at pH 8.8. The presence of humic substances in the slightly alkaline solutions suppresses the rate of the sorption due to slow dissociation of Eu-humate complexes.     

Association of humic acid with metal (hydr)oxide-coated sands at solid-water interfaces

Mineral-bound humic acid (HA) can significantly modify the physicochemical properties of the mineral surfaces and vice versa, thereby influencing the fate and transport of organic pollutants in the subsurface. The effect of various mineral surfaces on the adsorption-desorption of dissolved bulk, terrestrial HA was evaluated using three model sorbents [uncoated, alpha-FeO(OH)-coated, and Al2O3-coated sands] at two equilibrium pH values. The results of SEM/EDS and XPS analyses revealed relatively uniform and stable metal (hydr)oxide coatings on quartz surface and the presence of the HA coating. Strong hysteresis effects were observed for both metal (hydr)oxide-coated sands whereas a weaker hysteresis effect was observed for uncoated sand, suggesting that the adsorption-desorption of HA to model sorbents is dependent on the affinity of chemical interactions between the HA and surface composition of model sorbents. Adsorption of HA molecules onto metal (hydr)oxide-coated sands can be attributed to ligand exchange for lower molecular weight (MW) HA fractions and hydrophobic interaction for higher MW HA fractions, illustrating that both kinetic and fractional adsorption-desorption of HA subcomponents are important considerations.     

The effect of humic acid on the adsorption of REEs on kaolin

For a better understanding of adsorption of the rare earth elements (REEs) onto minerals and its controlling factors, adsorption experiments were performed at pH range of from 3 to 10 with kaolin (1500 mg/L) in a matrix of various concentration of NaNO₃ and about 20 μg/L of the total REEs as well as various amounts of humic acid (HA). The adsorption of HA onto the kaolin occurred over a wide pH range and decreases with increasing pH and with increasing HA concentration. The results show that humic acid has ability to either increase or decrease the adsorption of the REEs onto kaolin, depending on pH, which may be related to their speciation distribution, interaction of HA with the mineral surface. Furthermore, the light REEs are more adsorbed onto kaolin in presence of higher concentration of HA, presumably because the increase in HA concentration in the solution enhance stronger complexing of HA with heavy REEs as compare to light REEs. The ionic strength has strong effect on the adsorption of HA and REEs onto the kaolin but little on the REEs fractionation. The results presented here indicate that mineral/water adsorption may generate the enrichment of the dissolved heavy REEs in the presence of a significant amount of humic acid, which is consistent with the fractionation of REEs in the most of natural waters.     

The influence of humic acid on the pH-dependent sorption of americium(III) onto kaolinite

This work investigates the sorption of americium [Am(III)] onto kaolinite and the influence of humic acid (HA) as a function of pH (3–11). It has been studied by batch experiments (V/m = 250:1 mL/g, C _Am(III) = 1 × 10⁻⁵ mol/L, C _HA = 50 mg/L). Results showed that the Am(III) sorption onto the kaolinite in the absence of HA was typical, showing increases with pH and a distinct adsorption edge at pH 3–5. However in the presence of HA, Am sorption to kaolinite was significantly affected. HA was shown to enhance Am sorption in the acidic pH range (pH 3–4) due to the formation of additional binding sites for Am coming from HA adsorbed onto kaolinite surface, but reduce Am sorption in the intermediate and high pH above 6 due to the formation of aqueous Am-humate complexes. The results on the ternary interaction of kaolinite–Am–HA are compared with those on the binary system of kaolinite–HA and kaolinite–Am and adsorption mechanism with pH are discussed. Effect of different molecular weight of HA, with three HA fractions separated by ultrafiltration techniques, on the Am sorption to kaolinite were also studied. The results showed that the enhancement of the sorption of Am onto kaolinite at the acidic pH conditions (pH 3–4) was higher with HA fractions of higher molecular weight. Also, the Am sorption over a pH range from 6 to 10 decreased with decreasing molecular weight of HA.     

Study on the influence of humic acid of different molecular weight on basic ion exchange resin's adsorption capacity

In this paper, humic acid (HA) was ultra-filtered into different molecular weight sections and was characterized by multi-element analysis, UV₂₅₄/TOC, FT-IR and three-dimensional fluorescence spectrometric. Since humic acids of different molecular weights have different hydrophilic and molecular size, the maximum adsorption capacity of basic ion exchange resins appears on the humic acid whose molecular weight ranges from 6000 to 10,000 Da.     

Study of fibrinogen adsorption on hydroxyapatite and TiO2 surfaces by electrochemical piezoelectric quartz crystal impedance and FTIR-ATR spectroscopy

The electrochemical piezoelectric quartz crystal impedance (EQCI), a combined technique of piezoelectric quartz crystal impedance (PQCI), electrochemical impedance (EI), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy-attenuated total internal reflectance spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR) were used to in situ study the adsorption process of fibrinogen onto the surface of biomaterials—TiO₂ and hydroxyapatite (Ca₅(PO₄)₃OH, HAP). The equivalent circuit parameters, the resonance frequencies and the half peak width of the conductance spectrum of the two biomaterial-modified piezoelectric quartz crystal (PQC) resonances as well as the FTIR-ATR spectra of fibrinogen during fibrinogen adsorption on TiO₂ and HAP particles modified electrode surface were obtained. The adsorption kinetics and mechanism of fibrinogen were investigated and discussed as well. The results suggested that two consecutive steps occurred during the adsorption of fibrinogen onto TiO₂ and hydroxyapatite (HAP) surface. The fibrinogen molecules were firstly adsorbed onto the surface, and then the rearrangement of adsorbed fibrinogen or multi-layered adsorption occurred. The FTIR-ATR spectroscopy investigations showed that the secondary structure of fibrinogen molecules was altered during the adsorption and the adsorption kinetics of fibrinogen related with the variety of biomaterials. These experimental results suggest a way for enriching biological analytical science and developing new applications of analytical techniques, such as PQCI, EI, and FTIR-ATR.     

有机改性凹凸棒土对腐殖酸的吸附性能研究

合成了十六烷基三甲基氯化铵(CTAC)改性的凹凸棒土吸附剂,并研究了其对水中腐殖酸的吸附行为。通过FTIR、TG对改性前后凹凸棒土进行表征。结果表明,十六烷基三甲基氯化铵成功结合到凹凸棒土表面,结合到凹凸棒土表面的量为9.78%。在25℃时,腐殖酸在吸附剂上吸附行为符合Freundlich方程,吸附动力学符合拟二级动力学方程,初始浓度为54.60~200.20mg/L时,ATP-CTAC对腐殖酸的最大吸附量为253mg/g;温度对吸附行为影响不大;改性后的凹凸棒土对腐殖酸的吸附随pH的增大而降低;改性后的凹凸棒土显著地提高了对腐殖酸的吸附量。