Europium(III) complexed by HPSEC size-fractions of a vertisol humic acid: small differences evidenced by time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy.

The size fractionation of a humic acid (HA) by high performance size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) was used as a proxy for the filtration effect during HA transport through a porous medium with minimum specific chemical interactions. The modification of the Eu(III)-HA complexes' formation with the different size-fractions, as compared to the bulk HA, was studied in time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy (TRLS). Clear modifications in Eu(III)-HA complexes' structures were shown and related to the molecular characteristics of the separated size-fractions. The properties of most of size-fractions did not induce a major alteration of the affinity towards Eu(III). Only the most hydrophilic fractions eluted in the tail of the chromatographic peak, representing about 11% of total fractions-weight, gave some significantly different parameters. Using a simplistic complexation model, it was found that the available complexation sites decreased with the size reduction of humic fractions.

Bi-exponential decay of Eu(III) complexed by Suwannee River humic substances: spectroscopic evidence of two different excited species.

The bi-exponential luminescence decay of europium (III) complexed by Suwannee River fulvic acid (SRFA) and humic acid (SRHA), is studied in time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy using two different gratings at varying delay after the laser pulse, increasing accumulation time in order to obtain comparable signals. The two hypotheses found in the literature to interpret this bi-exponential decay are (i) a back transfer from the metal to the triplet state of the organic ligand and (ii) the radiative decay of two different excited species. It is shown that evolutions of the (5)D(0)-->(7)F(0) and (5)D(0)-->(7)F(2) luminescent transitions are occurring between 10 and 300 micros delay. First, the (5)D(0)-->(7)F(0) transition is decreasing relative to the (5)D(0)-->(7)F(1) showing a slightly greater symmetry of the 'slow' component, and is also slightly red shifted. Second, a slight modification of the (5)D(0)-->(7)F(2) transition is also evidencing a slightly different ligand field splitting. No significant modification of the (5)D(0)-->(7)F(1) magnetic dipole, which is less susceptible to symmetry changes, is noted in line with expectations. The (5)D(0)-->(7)F(0) transitions are adjusted with either one or two components. The use of a simple component fit seems to be well adapted for representing an average comportment of these heterogeneous compounds, and a two-component fit constrained by the bi-exponential decay parameters and accumulation times yields in the proposition of the spectra for the fast and slow components.

Spectral and temporal luminescent properties of Eu(III) in humic substance solutions from different origins.

Although a high heterogeneity of composition is awaited for humic substances, their complexation properties do not seem to greatly depend on their origins. The information on the difference in the structure of these complexes is scarce. To participate in the filling of this lack, a study of the spectral and temporal evolution of the Eu(III) luminescence implied in humic substance (HS) complexes is presented. Seven different extracts, namely Suwannee River fulvic acid (SRFA) and humic acid (SRHA), and Leonardite HA (LHA) from the International Humic Substances Society (USA), humic acid from Gorleben (GohyHA), and from the Kleiner Kranichsee bog (KFA, KHA) from Germany, and purified commercial Aldrich HA (PAHA), were made to contact with Eu(III). Eu(III)-HS time-resolved luminescence properties were compared with aqueous Eu(3+) at pH 5. Using an excitation wavelength of 394 nm, the typical bi-exponential luminescence decay for Eu(III)-HS complexes is common to all the samples. The components tau(1) and tau(2) are in the same order of magnitude for all the samples, i.e., 40 (7)F(2) transition exhibits the most striking differences. A slight blue shift is observed compared to aqueous Eu(3+) (lambda(max) = 615.4 nm), and the humic samples share almost the same lambda(max) approximately 614.5 nm. The main differences between the samples reside in a shoulder around lambda approximately 612.5 nm, modelled by a mixed Gaussian-Lorentzian band around lambda approximately 612 nm. SRFA shows the most intense shoulder with an intensity ratio of I(612.5)/I(614.7) = 1.1, KFA/KHA/SRHA share almost the same ratio I(612.5)/I(614.7) = 1.2-1.3, whilst the LHA/GohyHA/PAHA group has a I(612.5)/I(614.5) = 1.5-1.6. This shows that for the two groups of complexes, despite comparable complexing properties, slightly different symmetries are awaited.

Fractionation of Suwannee River fulvic acid and aldrich humic acid on alpha-Al2O3: spectroscopic evidence.

Sorptive fractionation of Suwannee River Fulvic Acid (SRFA) and Purified Aldrich Humic Acid (PAHA) on alpha-Al2O3 at pH 6 was probed in the supernatant using different spectroscopic techniques. Comparison of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) analysis with UV/vis spectrophotometric measurements at 254 nm, including specific UV absorbance (SUVA) calculation, revealed a decrease in chromophoric compounds for the nonsorbed extracts after a 24 h contact time. This fractionation, only observable below a certain ratio between initial number of sites of humic substances and of alpha-Al2O3, seems to indicate a higher fractionation for PAHA. C(1s) near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (NEXAFS) confirmed this trend and points to a decrease in phenolic moieties in the supernatant and to an eventual increase in phenolic moieties on the surface. Time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy (TRLS) of Eu(III) as luminescent probe showed a decrease in the ratio between the (5)D0-->(7)F2 and (5)D0-->(7)F1 transitions for the fractionated organic matter (OM) that is thought to be associated with a lower energy transfer from the OM to Eu(III) due to the loss of polar aromatics. These modifications in the supernatant are a hint for the modification of sorbed humic extracts on the surface.