The use of the dynamic light scattering method for characterizing humic acids in natural water

Summary

The results of studying the impact of sodium, calcium and aluminium salts on the dispersive characteristics of humic acids in natural water with the use of Photocor Compact-Z analyzer are presented. The dispersiveness of humic acids by molecular mass determines to wide extent the efficiency of natural water decoloration with aluminium salts. It is shown that the method of dynamic light scattering can be an efficient and rapid method of studying the conformational changes of macromolecules in alkaline and acid solutions, and chemical interactions between humic acids and metal ions. The studies were carried out with natural and simulated water prepared by extracting humic acids from peat with distilled water and blending the obtained solutions to the required color. The ion composition of simulated water was changed by adding calcium chloride, aluminium sulfate, «Aqua-Aurat™30» polyaluminum oxychloride, sodium hydrogen carbonate and hydrochloric acid.

Key words

chromaticity , natural water , aluminium sulphate , aluminium polyoxychloride , humus acids , alkalinity , light scattering