Using artificial soil and dry-column flash chromatography to simulate organic substance leaching process: a colorful environmental chemistry experiment

• Autores: Isa G. J. de Avellar, Taís A. P. G. Cotta, Amarílis de V. Finageiv Neder
• Localización: Journal of chemical education, ISSN 0021-9584, Vol. 89, Nº 2, 2012, págs. 248-253
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Soil is an important and complex environmental compartment and soil contamination contributes to the pollution of aquifers and other water basins. A simple and low-cost experiment is described in which the mobility of three organic compounds in an artificial soil is examined using dry-column flash chromatography. The compounds were applied on top of the soil surface, and the column was irrigated with a dilute solution of calcium chloride that mimics rain. The compounds were detected in column drainage fractions using classic qualitative tests in which the intensity of the color produced is related to the concentration of the analyte. The experiment replicates a leaching system in which organic substances migrate through soil at distinct rates as a result of differences in partition constants and water solubility, properties that are related to structural features.