Abstract-Humic acid (HA) is a principal component of humic substances, which are the major organic constituents of soil, peat, coal, many upland streams, dystrophic lakes and ocean water. HA has an important impact on a variety of environment processes. This work aimed to characterize the HA extracted and purified from the Candiota coalfield (Brazil) by visible (VIS), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), inductively coupled plasma absorption emission (ICP-AES), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopies, thermogravimetry (TG), differential thermal analysis (DTA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results of these analyses showed that Candiota HA presents a high degree of humification, which is considered to be type A with a turbostratic structure. The elemental analysis (EDX/ ICP-AES) indicated the presence of low concentrations of heavy metals.
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