Effects of Methane Fermentation on Spectral Properties of Fulvic Acid Extracted from Peat through Liquid Acid Precipitation

The effects of acid precipitation with different liquid acids on spectral properties of fulvic acid extracted from peat was studied to select the most appropriate liquid acid for the acid precipitation step of the alkali solution acid precipitation method, and the new process mechanism of peat utilization by coupling methane fermentation and extraction of fulvic acid was analyzed. The alkali solution acid precipitation method was adopted to extract fulvic acid from the methane-fermented group and methane-unfermented group. Different liquid acids were used to conduct acid precipitation during the extraction. And then, the characterizations of fulvic acid samples were conducted through Fourier infrared spectroscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy, and fluorescence spectroscopy. The yield and content of fulvic acid decreased significantly after methane fermentation. During the methane fermentation process, some fulvic acid was consumed and utilized by microorganisms to promote the methane fermentation process, resulting both in the decrease of methyl, hydroxyl, and ether bonds and in the increase of methylene, carbonyl, conjugated double bond, benzene rings, and other groups. The E 4 / E 6 ratio shows that the E 4 / E 6 ratio of fulvic acid was decreased after methane fermentation, and the fermentation consumed the functional group with simpler structure such as aliphatic chain hydrocarbon of fulvic acid while the structure with a higher degree of aromatization and conjugate cannot be consumed. When conducting acid precipitation with different liquid acids, the yield of fulvic acid was the highest through acid precipitation with phosphoric acid. The fulvic acid obtained through acid precipitation with nitric acid has a higher content, more benzene rings, and the highest degree of aromatization.