The characteristics of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in storm sewer sediments and the binding interaction with Cu(II) in four typical regions in Beijing, China

In this work, dissolved organic matter (DOM) was extracted from storm sewer sediments collected in four typical regions (residential, campus, traffic and business regions) in Beijing, China. The basic characteristics of DOM were analyzed by UV–visible spectroscopy (UV–Vis), excitation-emission matrix Fluorescence Spectroscopy and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. Furthermore, the complexation between DOM and Cu(II) were investigated. The results showed that there were large amount of aromatic structure in the DOM extracted from storm sewer sediments. The microbial activities had also made a contribution to the DOM in storm sewer sediments. The composition of DOM influenced the complexing capacity of Cu(II) greatly, which may be attributed to the protein-like and humic-like substances in storm sewer sediments. This study demonstrated valuable information on the structure present in the DOM of storm sewer sediments and provided new insight for exploring the relationship between DOM and co-existing heavy metals in storm sewer sediments.