Open AccessAn acidic-groups detection method and its application to analysis of Chinese humic acid samples
Author(s) -
XU Peng-fei,
Yuhao Wang,
Xue Li,
Qingshuang Chen,
Lujiang Hao,
Jie Zhang,
Xiaoling Zhu,
Baolei Jia
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0238061
Subject(s) - humic acid , titration , chemistry , nitrogen , hydroxybenzoic acid , aqueous solution , chromatography , nuclear chemistry , organic chemistry , fertilizer
The method of non-aqueous conductivity titration (NACT) of organic weak acids was applied to quickly and accurately determine the phenolic-hydroxyl and carboxyl-groups contents in humic acid. By varying the pH of the humic-acid sample, the concentration of the titrant, and the nitrogen-gas flow rate, the optimal titration conditions were determined to be a sample pH of 4, titrant concentration of 0.05 mol/L, and nitrogen-gas flow rate of 80 mL/min. Applying the detection method to p-hydroxybenzoic acid showed that its phenolic-hydroxyl content was 758.82±111.76 cmol/kg and carboxyl content was 744.44±51.11 cmol/kg. The theoretical phenolic-hydroxyl and carboxyl-groups contents of the p-hydroxybenzoic acid were 723.96 cmol/kg respectively, indicating that the method can accurately quantify the carboxyl and phenolic-hydroxyl groups in the sample. The NACT was used to measure the phenolic-hydroxyl and carboxyl-groups contents in humic acid quickly and accurately. In addition, 29 humic acid samples from 8 provinces of China covering the main humic-acid producing areas were collected and analyzed for acidic-groups content using the reported method.