Evolution of soil DOM during thermal remediation below 100 °C: concentration, spectral characteristics and complexation ability

Highlights

● DOM concentration increased with heating temperature (below 100 °C) and duration.

● Molecular weight, function groups and aromaticity of DOM decreased during heating.

● EEM results indicated higher DOM hydrophobicity after heating.

● DOM binding ability declined due to the loss of polar and aromatic function groups.

Abstract

The impact of thermal remediation on soil function has drawn increasing attention. So far, as the most active fraction of soil organic matter, the evolution of dissolved organic matter (DOM) during the thermal remediation lacks in-depth investigation, especially for the temperatures value below 100 °C. In this study, a series of soil thermal treatment experiments was conducted at 30, 60, and 90 °C during a 90-d period, where soil DOM concentration increased with heating temperature and duration. The molecular weight, functional groups content and aromaticity of DOM all decreased during the thermal treatment. The excitation-emission matrices (EEM) results suggested that humic acid-like substances transformed into fulvic acid-like substances (F_III/F_V increased from 0.27 to 0.44) during the heating process, and five DOM components were further identified by EEM-PARAFAC. The change of DOM structures and components indicated the decline of DOM stability and hydrophilicity, and can potentially change the bioavailability and mobility. Elevated temperature also resulted in the decline of DOM complexation ability, which may be caused by the loss of binding sites due to the decrease of polar function groups, aromatic structures and hydrophilic components. This study provides valuable information about the evolution of DOM during thermal remediation, which would potentially change the fate of metal ions and the effectiveness of the post-treatment technologies in the treated region.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Thermal remediation below 100 °C / Heating temperature / Soil DOM concentration / DOM spectral characteristics / Excitation-emission matrices (EEM) / Complexation ability

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 42077171).

Conflict of Interests

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-024-1854-x and is accessible for authorized users.

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