Interaction Mechanism between Antibiotics and Humic Acid by UV-Vis Spectrometry

In this study, the interaction between the humus and two antibiotics was studied by UV-Vis spectroscopy to describe the interaction mechanism and the effects of different environmental factors on the mechanism. Results showed that humic acid (HA) containing more aromatic groups was easily associated with antibiotics. In the HA-OTC, with the increase of the concentration of OTC, there were obvious absorption peaks in the 230–260 nm and 330–360 nm range, and the absorption band of the HA ultraviolet spectrum underwent a slight blue shift and the absorption intensity increased, demonstrating that a new ground state complex was generated. In the HA-SD, with the increase of SD concentration, an aromatic structure absorption peak appeared in the 190–220 nm range, and the peak value increased and the absorption band underwent a red shift, and the aromatization of HA decreased, which enhanced the interaction between the antibiotics and HA. With the increase of pH, the absorption band of HA, HA-OTC and HA-SD ultraviolet spectrum suffered a blue shift, the degree of polymerization of HA molecules decreased, and the number of adsorption binding sites increased, which resulted in the interaction of HA with antibiotics being enhanced. The absorption band of HA, HA-OTC and HA-SD displayed a red shift with the increase of ionic strength, which indicated that the repulsion within HA particles was weakened, and the molecular polymerization was strengthened and therefore, the interaction between antibiotics and HA was inhibited. The UV characteristics of the HA, HA-OTC and HA-SD systems were insensitive to the temperature. This study lays the foundation for better studying the effect of humus on the distribution of antibiotic residues in the environment.