COMPARING SURFACE-MORPHOLOGY OF LIGNIN-CARBOHYDRATE COMPLEX AND HUMICSUBSTANCES - AFM VR APPROACH/

Surface morphologies of softwood and hardwood lignin-carbohydrate comp lexes, and of humic and fulvic acids (the products of biochemical degr adation of plant matter in soil) were examined under identical conditi ons using atomic force microscopy coupled with transformation of digit al images into Virtual reality. The structural organization of the obs erved surfaces did not always coincide with that found previously usin g electron microscopy, suggesting that sample preparation played a sig nificant role in the formation of aggregates. Morphological difference s were observed in the samples that belonged to the same class of mate rials and to different classes. The morphologies of lignin-carbohydrat e complexes and humic and fulvic acids followed a similar pattern, how ever, suggesting similarities in the chemical structure of both classe s of compounds.