Adsorption of triazine derivatives with humic fraction-immobilized silica gel in hexane: a mechanistic consideration.

A fraction of humic acid is collected under acidic conditions, then immobilized on silica gel and used as the adsorbent for various symmetrical triazine (s-triazine) derivatives in hexane. The enhanced hydrogen bonding between the analyte and humic fraction molecules, not the complexation interaction, is responsible for the adsorption observed in hexane, based on Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy results. The percentage of adsorption in hexane for all s-triazine derivatives reaches nearly 100% in 1 h, independent of the type, position, and size of the substituent on the aromatic nitrogen heterocyclic ring. Other factors leading to the variation of the percentage of adsorption include the type of liquid phase and the additive of acidic or basic origin present in the matrix.