The complementary use of 1H NMR, 13C NMR, FTIR and size exclusion chromatography to investigate the principal structural changes associated with composting of organic materials with diverse origin

The aim of this work is to study the structural changes involved in humification processes. Total humic extracts (THE) obtained from five composted materials of diverse origin (solid wastes of wineries, solid mill olive wastes, domestic wastes, ovine manures plus straw, and a mixture of animal manures), and their corresponding initial raw fresh organic mixtures were studied using 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) using the cross-polarization magic angle spinning technique (CPMAS), 1H NMR, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and high pressure size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC). One group of three humic acids extracted from soils, and a second group consisting of two reference humic acids and two reference fulvic acids (1S104H, 1R103H, 1R101F and 1R107F) obtained from the International Humic Substances Society were also characterized using these techniques, in order to compare the features of reference humic and fulvic acids with those of composted materials. Likewise, the results were compared with those obtained in previous studies, in which UV–Visible and fluorescence spectroscopies were employed to characterize the humification degree of the molecular systems. The results obtained by 13C CPMAS NMR, 1H NMR and FTIR indicate that, in general, humification seems to be associated with an increase in the aromatic character of the systems, with the presence of phenol groups as principal substituents and a reduction in oxygen containing functional groups, principally carboxylic or carbonylic groups, as well as the development of molecular fractions with larger size. These results also support the suitability of UV–Visible and fluorescence spectroscopies in the assessment of the humification course of humic extracts in composting processes.