Evaluation of natural organic matter-metal oxide adsorption isotherms under influential structural concepts

Abstract

The adsorption of molecules onto a surface is a necessary prerequisite to any surface mediated chemical process. Therefore, the mechanism of binding of humic acids to TiO2 surface has to be addressed in order to improve the understanding of photocatalytic degradation. From the fundamental point of view, natural organic matter (NOM) for water scientists can be perceived as very complex entities both in terms of chemistry and comprehension. Especially the fulvic (FA) and humic acids (HA), the soluble portions of NOM, are often considered as oligomeric and polymeric materials. In literature, there are ongoing discussions regarding the high molecular mass is due to aggregation of small units, as in micelles, or due to covalently bound units, as in polymers. The essence of this thesis is to evaluate the adsorption under the light of these two debatable approaches and bring reasonable interpretations of the observed isotherm patterns through the use of proposed structures. In this dissertation the isotherms of humic acid (HA) on titanium dioxide are analyzed at acidic, neutral, and basic pH. Combined effects of pH and increasing ionic strength were evaluated in order to asses the effect of changing solution matrix on the molecular structure of humic acid.|Keywords: humic acid, titanium dioxide, adsorption, natural organic matter, metal oxides