INVESTIGATION OF FULVIC-ACIDS FROM PEAT USING CAPILLARY ELECTROPHORESIS (CE)

The aim of this work was to characterize the fulvic acids (FA) extract ed from peat by use of capillary electrophoresis (CE). Two FA extracts have been obtained using two different extractants (0.1 M NaOH and 0. 1 M NaOH plus 0.1 M Na4P2O7, Na+PP). The CE runs were performed using a coated silica capillary, and several buffer solutions at different p H values. The results obtained show that the FA extracts may be well c haracterized by CE even if the isoelectric point of the fulvic compoun ds is very low. The best fractionation has been obtained using a buffe r berate at pH 8.9 as running buffer. The characterization of the two extracts also showed some important differences between the NaOH extra ct and the Na+PP extract.