Characteristics of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in leachate with different landfill ages

The main objective of the study was to investigate the characteristics of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in leachate with different landfill ages through the chemical, spectroscopic, and elemental analysis. Humic acid (HA), fulvic acid (FA), and hydrophilic (Hyl) fractions were isolated and purified by the XAD-8 resin combined with the cation exchange resin method. The analytical results of fluorescence excitation-emission matrix spectroscopy (EEMs) revealed that the fluorescence peaks were protein-like fluorescence for young landfill leachate, while the fluorescence peaks for medium and old landfill leachate were humic-like and fulvic-like fluorescence, respectively. Elemental analysis showed that carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen content decreased with landfill age, while the oxygen content increased. Moreover, the nitrogen content in these isolated fractions followed: HA > Hyl > FA. The results of elemental analysis, FT-IR, and fluorescence EEMs also confirmed that aromatic carbons and portions of aliphatic functional groups were more abundant in leachate samples with increasing landfill age.