Extraction of humic acid from sediment obtained from Eniong River, Nigeria

The green chemistry method was used to extract humic acid from sediments obtained from Eniong River, Nigeria). The percentage yield of 0.2, 0.41 and 0.63 were obtained for 0.1, 0.5 and 1.0M NaOH respectively. The prepared humic acid (HA) was characterized using Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and as well an investigating its surface properties. The spectrum confirmed the presence of surface functional group including -OH, -CO, -COOH. The UV spectrum was featureless typical of humic acids. The surface properties investigation showed that the extracted humic acid (EHA) was a mesoporous adsorbent with pore size between 2-50nm.