title: Acid-base properties of humic and fulvic acids formed during composting.
abstract: The soil acid-base buffering capacity and the biological availability, mobilization, and transport of macro- and micronutrients, toxic metal ions, and xenobiotic organic cations in soil are strongly influenced by the acid-base properties of humic substances, of which humic and fulvic acids are the major fractions. For these reasons, the proton binding behavior of the humic acid-like (HA) and fulvic acid-like (FA) fractions contained in a compost are believed to be instrumental in its successful performance in soil. In this work, the acid-base properties of the HAs and FAs isolated from a mixture of the sludge residue obtained from olive oil mill wastewater (OMW) evaporated in an open-air pond and tree cuttings (TC) at different stages of composting were investigated by a current potentiometric titration method and the nonideal competitive adsorption (NICA)-Donnan model. The NICA-Donnan model provided an excellent description of the acid-base titration data, and pointed out substantial differences in site density and proton-binding affinity between the HAs and FAs examined. With respect to FAs, HAs were characterized by a smaller content of carboxylic- and phenolic-type groups and their larger affinities for proton binding. Further, HAs featured a greater heterogeneity in carboxylic-type groups than FAs. The composting process increased the content and decreased the proton affinity of carboxylic- and phenolic-type groups of HAs and FAs, and increased the heterogeneity of phenolic-type groups of HAs. As a whole, these effects indicated that the composting process could produce HA and FA fractions with greater cation binding capacities. These results suggest that composting of organic materials improves their agronomic and environmental value by increasing their potential to retain and exchange macro- and micronutrients, and to reduce the bioavailability of organic and inorganic pollutants.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Ciencias Medioambientales, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Serrano 115 dpdo., 28006 Madrid, Spain. c.plaza@ccma.csic.es
authors.forename: César
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Plaza
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Senesi
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Polo
authors.forename: Gennaro
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brunetti
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D001578:Benzopyrans / Q000737:chemistry*; D001682:Biological Availability; D002412:Cations; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D006812:Humic Substances; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007700:Kinetics; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D015233:Models, Statistical; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D000069463:Olive Oil; D019800:Phenol / Q000737:chemistry; D010938:Plant Oils; D011199:Potentiometry; D011522:Protons; D012037:Refuse Disposal; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis; D013696:Temperature; D014872:Water Movements; D014873:Water Pollutants
chemical_list: D001578:Benzopyrans; D002412:Cations; D006812:Humic Substances; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D000069463:Olive Oil; D010938:Plant Oils; D011522:Protons; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D014873:Water Pollutants; D019800:Phenol; C005023:fulvic acid