Preparation of powdered sample of fulvic acid and analysis of its acid functional groups

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Abstract
It is important to study soil fulvic acid owing to the major role it plays in material transfer (1) and nutrient supply (2) in soil. Although Schnitzer and his coworkers (3) have carried out numerous studies, systematic data on the chemical properties of fulvic acid are still limited compared with those on humic acid. In Japan, several researchers reported on its preparation and characteristics (4–7). The difficulties in studying fulvic acid are considered to be mainly due to the complexity of the fulvic acid constituents and the difficulty in preparing powdered samples which do not contain ash. Fulvic acid is an assemblage of various kinds of organic matter components differing in their nature, properties and molecular weight. The removal of ash is often associated with the loss of low molecular weight components.