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Particle and structure characterization of fulvic acids from agricultural soils

  • Humic Substances in the Environment
  • Published:
Journal of Soils and Sediments Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Structural studies on fulvic acids (FAs) are of significant importance since FAs are involved in many environmentally important processes, such as adsorption and transportation of nutrients, trace elements, and organic pollutants. Interactions between suspended and dissolved soil components are controlled by a variety of attractive and repulsive interparticle forces influenced partially by FA properties. The aim of this paper is a detailed characterization of FAs derived from agricultural soils varied with physicochemical properties.

Materials and methods

Forty topsoils (pHKCL = 3.8–7.8, clay content = 0–6%, and TOC = 7.0–187.2 g kg−1) were collected from rural area. Fulvic acids (FAs) were isolated according to the IHSS method. The overall FA solutions were purified by nonionic macroporous acrylic ester resin (DAX-8), and the organic carbon content in FA fraction (FA-OC) was determined by a liquid C–N analyzer. The particle size diameter (PSD) and polydispersity (PDI) were analyzed by a dynamic light scattering technique, while the zeta potential (ZP) was measured using an electrophoretic light scattering method. Spectroscopic properties of FAs, including occurrence and distribution of functional groups, were investigated by near-IR spectroscopy.

Results and discussion

Agricultural soils differed substantially, with FA-OC content ranging from 0.6 to 8.8 g kg−1 that accounted for 0.5 to 22.6% of TOC. The PSD exhibited wide range of particle size (0.2 to 69.6 nm) and was characterized by different polydispersity (14–183.1%). The ZP described the behavior, and surface charge of FA particles varied from − 1.7 to + 3.3 mV. Low ZP characterized 77% of FAs and indicated the ease of aggregate formation and intermolecular connections. The measured ZP also showed that suspended organic particles of FAs had both positive and negative charges, which was confirmed by the spectroscopic analysis. The presence of negative charges on FA particle surfaces was connected with the occurrence of phenol and carboxyl groups while positive charge with amine.

Conclusions

Detailed characterization of FAs from agricultural soils confirms their heterogeneous and complex nature. The results indicate that FAs mainly exist as small molecules that form molecular aggregates or associations in solutions. FA in a solution of a similar ionic strength may be positively or negatively charged due to its chemical structure and aggregate behavior which affects their properties in the soil.

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Acknowledgements

The financial support from the National Science Centre grant no. UMO-2011/03/B/ST10/05015 and no. UMO-2012/07/B/ST10/04387 is kindly acknowledged. The research was also partially financed by Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (PL) State Programme, Task 1.3 (2016-2020). We also gratefully acknowledge the Anton Paar Poland sp. z oo.

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  1. Department of Soil Science Erosion and Land Protection, Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation—State Research Institute, Czartoryskich 8, 24-100, Puławy, Poland

    Aleksandra Ukalska-Jaruga, Guillaume Debaene & Bożena Smreczak

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  1. Aleksandra Ukalska-Jaruga
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  2. Guillaume Debaene
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  3. Bożena Smreczak
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Correspondence to Aleksandra Ukalska-Jaruga.

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Ukalska-Jaruga, A., Debaene, G. & Smreczak, B. Particle and structure characterization of fulvic acids from agricultural soils. J Soils Sediments 18, 2833–2843 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-018-2008-1

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