Abstract

• Humic acid(HA) is a complex molecule that exists naturally in soils, peats, oceans and fresh waters. It is an excellent natural and organic compound to provide plants and soil with a concentrated dose of essential nutrients, vitamins and trace elements. In this research, HA was extracted from the peat collected from Moeswe Village, Oattara Thiri Township, Naypyitaw, Myanmar by alkali extraction method. The yield percents of HA was found to be (6.869)%. The extracted HA was characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT IR). The spectroscopic analysis shows that HA contains carboxylic, phenolic and alcoholic functional groups. According to SEM image, HA possesses the voids and aggregate nature. The crystallographic information of extracted HA was investigated by XRD analysis. The nature of thermal stability of extracted HA as well as decomposition such as dehydration, liberation of volatile materials and combustion of HA were studied by Thermal Analysis. The extracted HA was composited with commercially available chitosan in three different weight ratios (1:1, 2:1 and 1:2). The composites were characterized by FT IR, XRD, SEM and TG-DTA spectroscopic methods. HA, commercially available chitosan and their composites were studied. The removal of sulphur black from aqueous solution by using humic-chitosan composite was examined. This research demonstrates that HA can be utilized as a solvent in the solving of environmental problems to some extents.