The Role of Strong Hydrogen Bonds in Humic Acid

Abstract

With the growing demand for drinking water, purification processes must be operating at maximum efficiency. It has been found that humic acids are useful in removing toxic metals, oil, liquid organics, and other suspended matter; however, during the purification process these molecules have been found to aggregate and potentially create fouling and other undesirable effects. This can result in less efficient purification systems which is why it is important to understand humic acid molecules on a molecular level. It is currently thought that these molecules contain strong hydrogen bonds, which is assumed to be the driving force of aggregation. In this project, the goal is to achieve an understanding of the role of strong hydrogen bonds in the supramolecular assembly on a fundamental level and provide insight into the evolution of humic acids structure and its dependence on shear stress.