The isolation and characterisation of humic acids using a variety of alkaline extractants

The investigation into humic acid; chemistry examined the effect the extraction technique used to isolate humic material from the sediment had on the chemical/structural composition and yield of the acid; compared the various isolation techniques used in the literature and developed an extraction technique which minimises the solubilisation of the heavy metals from the inorganic sediment and, examined the complexation capacity of humic acids derived from a sediment source in relation to the heavy metal content and extraction technique.