Raman Spectroscopy and Zeta Potential assay for the Assessment of Dissolved Organic Matter in Natural Waters

MEDINA, ANALÍA; LEDESMA, ANA; GOMEZ ROJAS, J.R.; HERRERA, ELISA G.; LEON, JOSÉ

Congreso; SAB2023; 2023

Thedissolved natural organic matter (NOM) plays a central role in aquaticenvironments and its composition determines how it reacts in the environment. Amain process affecting NOM amount and composition in aquatic environments isbiodegradation, which typically leads to the rapid loss of labile and lowmolecular weight aliphatic material, including proteins, carbohydrates, andorganic acids. However, it can also be accompanied by the production of highmolecular weight aromatic material, such as fulvicand humicacids, through alteration of existing compounds and/or production of newcompounds by heterotrophs.Ramanspectroscopy is a powerful technique, that can be used in the study of complexmacromolecules in aqueous solution, owing to the weak Raman signal of water.This spectroscopy is an alternative inexpensive and rapid technique, moreover,requires no reagents, and allow identify the component present in NOM aftertreatment of natural water.Theknowledge of particle size distribution and colloidal stability is veryimportant for their functioning in nature. The mobility of any particle isstrongly affected by its size. The aggregation of humicand fulvicparticles can result in a loss of their mobility and in the decrease of activesites accessible for pollutants in natural systems and their bioavailabilitycan be increased and decreased by the binding with those particles. Therefore,its charges play an important role for their binding.