“…FAs compared to other fractions of humic substances (humic acids and humins) reveal a lower molecular weight (~500-2000 Da) [1,2], lower sensitivity to pH and better solubility [3], a structure richer in oxygen compounds [2,4] as well as lower aromaticity [5]. FAs find a wide variety of applications, however the greatest potential of these compounds comes from their chelating properties due to a large number of carboxylic, phenolic and alcoholic hydroxyl functional groups (900-1400 cmol kg −1 ) [6,7] as well as others including quinines, semiquinones [8,9], amino and sulphydryl groups [5,10]. As a consequence, FAs exhibit a high sorption capacity to cationic substances, hence they can play a key role in controlling speciation, bioavailability, toxicity and mobility of metals [11][12][13].…”