Effects of some dicarboxylic acids on the association of dissolved humic substances

Changes in molecular size distributions of four different humic materials were evaluated through high performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC), before and after treating humic solutions with naturally occurring dicarboxylic (oxalic, malonic, succinic and glutaric) acids. Chromatograms of dissolved humic substances showed a decrease in peak absorbance as well as an increase in peak elution volume when the solution pH was lowered from 7 to 3.5 by addition of dicarboxylic acids before HPSEC analysis. The resulting reduction in molecular size is explained by the disruption of unstable humic superstructures into smaller-sized associations stabilized by the formation of strong intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bonds among humic molecules. The extent of humic size variation was in the order: oxalic