Dissolved organic matter (DOM) can strongly bind to organic
contaminants
and control phenanthrene in soil. Herein, four individual parallel
factor analysis (PARAFAC) components were found in soil DOM. Component
C1 was the humic-like component ligand T, and component C2 was a combination
of humic fluorophore ligands M1 and M2. Furthermore, components C3
and C4 were characterized as terrestrial and ubiquitous humic substances.
Then, the modified Stern–Volmer complexation model was used
to reveal soil DOM component–phenanthrene-binding properties.
The overall binding characteristics of a PARAFAC component could not
express the phenanthrene-binding properties. Therefore, two-dimensional
correlation spectroscopy was used to reveal DOM ligand–phenanthrene-binding
properties. After binding with phenanthrene, DOM ligands T, M2, A2,
and C1 were quenched but DOM ligands M1, A1, and C2 were excited.
The ligands with higher humification presented higher phenanthrene-binding
ability. With these promising results, the DOM ligand–phenanthrene-binding
characteristics offered theoretical support for soil pollution control.