Cation Binding by Humic Substances

About this book

Humic substances are highly-abundant organic compounds formed in soils and sediments by the decay of dead plants, microbes and animals. This book focuses on the important binding properties of these compounds which regulate the chemical reactivity and bioavailability of hydrogen and metal ions in the natural environment. Topics covered include the physico-chemical properties of humic matter and interactions of protons and metal cations with weak acids and macromolecules. Experimental laboratory methods are also discussed, together with mathematical modelling. Finally the author looks at how the results of this research can be used to interpret environmental phenomena in soils, waters and sediments. This comprehensive account of cation binding by humic matter is a valuable resource for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, environmental scientists, ecologists and geochemists.

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Humic substances - a brief review
3. Environmental solution and surface chemistry
4. Proton dissociation from weak acids
5. Metal-ligand interactions
6. Methods for measuring cation binding by humic substances
7. Quantitative results with isolated humic substances
8. Cation binding sites in humic substances
9. Parameterised models of cation-humic interactions
10. Applications of comprehensive parameterised models
11. Predictive modelling
12. Cation-humic binding and other physico-chemical processes
13. Cation binding by humic substances in natural waters
14. Cation binding by humic substances in soils and sediments
15. Research needs

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Biography

Edward Tipping works at the Natural Environment Research Council Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Cumbria, England, and is a Visiting Professor at the University of Lancaster. After receiving his PhD from the University of Manchester in 1973, he spent five years at the Middlesex Hospital Medical School researching cancer biochemistry. He has spent short periods in laboratories in Finland, Sweden, the USA, Norway and the Netherlands, and published over 120 papers in international journals.