Physicochemical properties of the humic substances of peat and brown coal

A comparison characteristic of the spectroscopic, viscous, and electrokinetic properties of the humic substances of peat and brown coal is given. Quantitative relationships between absorbance and the concentration of humic acids (HAs) were obtained. Methods for the determination of the amounts of humic substances in peat- and coal-alkaline reagents were proposed. The average molecular weights of the humic substances of peat and coal were determined by viscometry. A method was proposed for studying the electro-kinetic properties of humic substances of different nature. The dependence of electrophoretic mobility and kinetic potentials on the concentration and nature of HAs was determined. The electrophoretic mobility method can be used for rapid analysis to determine the concentrations of the functional groups of HAs.