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DOM Molecular Diversity, Identification Method and Driving Factors

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Cross-Field Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2024) | Viewed by 828

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, School of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China
Interests: dissolved organic matter; characterization techniques; biogeochemical process; source identification; lake eutrophication
Center for Water Research, Advanced Institute of Natural Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai, China
Interests: organic phosphorus; dissolved organic matter; sediment–water interface; characterization technique; risk assessment; lake eutrophication

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is a heterogeneous mixture of organic molecules of various origins and compositions, including sugars, fatty acids and alkanes, and complex polymeric molecules. It is an abundant and mobile part of the aquatic carbon pool, and serves as a fundamental link between terrestrial, freshwater, and oceanic carbon cycles. Hence, aquatic DOM plays important roles in the aquatic biogeochemical cycle and the global carbon cycle. However, due to the complexity of its structure and the limits of technology, 70% of organic compounds in DOM are still unknown. Thus, high-resolution identification methods such as FT-ICR-MS are urgently needed. In fact, the molecular composition of DOM varies greatly in terms of spatial and temporal scales and can be influenced by various factors. In the past decades, research has increasingly suggested that land use, climate, hydrology, anthropogenic disturbance, and the microbial community could all affect the molecular composition of DOM. DOM dynamics could also be traced by effective methods.

This Special Issue focuses on the molecular diversity, identification, molecular dynamics and driving mechanisms of DOM by using diverse technologies in freshwater settings. New research papers, reviews, case reports, and conference papers are welcome in this Special Issue. Papers dealing with new approaches to identify DOM formulas or source quantification are especially welcome.

Dr. Shasha Liu
Dr. Zhaokui Ni
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • dissolved organic matter
  • molecular characterization
  • identification
  • FT-ICR-MS
  • dynamics
  • driving factors

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 2954 KiB  
Article
Characterization of Low-Molecular-Weight Dissolved Organic Matter Using Optional Dialysis and Orbitrap Mass Spectrometry
by Qiuxing Li, Runyu Zhang, Guopei Huang, Haijun Yuan, Liying Wang and Shuxia Xu
Molecules 2024, 29(14), 3370; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29143370 - 18 Jul 2024
Viewed by 395
Abstract
Low-molecular-weight (LMW, <1000 Da) dissolved organic matter (DOM) plays a significant role in metal/organic pollutant complexation, as well as photochemical/microbiological processes in freshwater ecosystems. The micro size and high reactivity of LMW-DOM hinder its precise characterization. In this study, Suwannee River fulvic acid [...] Read more.
Low-molecular-weight (LMW, <1000 Da) dissolved organic matter (DOM) plays a significant role in metal/organic pollutant complexation, as well as photochemical/microbiological processes in freshwater ecosystems. The micro size and high reactivity of LMW-DOM hinder its precise characterization. In this study, Suwannee River fulvic acid (SRFA), a commonly used reference material for aquatic DOM, was applied to examine the optical features and molecular composition of LMW-DOM by combining membrane separation, ultraviolet–visible absorption and Orbitrap mass spectrometry (MS) characterization. The 100–500 Da molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) membrane had a better performance in regard to separating the tested LMW-DOM relative to the 500–1000 Da MWCO membrane. The ultraviolet–visible absorbance decreased dramatically for the retentates, whereas it increased for the dialysates. Specifically, carbohydrates, lipids and peptides exhibited high selectivity to the 100–500 Da MWCO membrane in early dialysis. Lignins, tannins and condensed aromatic molecules displayed high permeability to the 500–1000 Da MWCO membrane in late dialysis. Overall, the retentates were dominated by aromatic rings and phenolic hydroxyls with high O/Cwa (weighted average of O/C) and low H/Cwa. Conversely, such dialysates had numerous aliphatic chains with high H/Cwa and low O/Cwa compared to SRFA. In particular, LMW-DOM below 200 Da was identified by Orbitrap MS. This work provides an operational program for identifying LMW-DOM based on the SRFA standard and MS analysis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue DOM Molecular Diversity, Identification Method and Driving Factors)
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