Humic Substances Structures, Models and Functions

The biomaterials of humic substances are found in animals, coals, plants, sediments, soils, and waters. The abilities of these remarkable materials to buffer pH, retain water, be photoactive, be redox catalysts, sorb solutes, and bind metals are being more clearly understood by chemists, agronomists, and others. Ghabbour and Davies (both of Northeastern U., Boston) present 31 contributions from the latest humic substances seminar held in March of 2001. The papers cover a range of topics, including a look at the history of the study of the substances, discussions of the principles behind the study, the use of various kinds of methods to collect information, models and theories of humic structures, the process of imaging humic structures, commercial applications derived from coals, and agricultural applications for antimutagenesis. c. Book News Inc.