Isolation of dissolved organic matter from aqueous solution by precipitation with FeCl(3): mechanisms and significance in environmental perspectives

Ferric ions can bind strongly with dissolved organic matter (DOM), including humic acids (HA), fulvic acids (FA), and protein-like substances, whereas isolation of Fe-DOM precipitates (Fe-DOM(P)) and their biochemical characteristics remain unclear. In this work FeCl(3) was used to isolate DOM components from various sources, including river, lake, soil, cow dung, and standard tryptophan and tyrosine, through precipitation at pH 7.5–8.5. The Fe-DOM(P) contribute to total DOM by approximately 38.6–93.8% of FA, 76.2% of HA and 25.0–30.4% of tryptophan and tyrosine, whilst fluorescence spectra allowed to monitor/discriminate the various DOM fractions in the samples. The relative intensity of the main infrared peaks such as 3406‒3383 cm(−1) (aromatic OH), 1689‒1635 cm(−1) (‒COOH), 1523–1504 cm(−1) (amide) and 1176–1033 cm(−1) (‒S=O) show either to decline or disappear in Fe‒DOM(P). These results suggest the occurrence of Fe bonds with various functional groups of DOM, indicating the formation of π–d electron bonding systems of different strengths in Fe‒DOM(P). The novel method used for isolation of Fe-DOM(P) shows promising in opening a new frontier both at laboratory and industrial purposes. Furthermore, results obtained may provide a better understanding of metal–organic complexes involved in the regulation of the long-term stabilization/sequestration of DOM in soils and waters.