Natural organic matter hydrophobic interactions

In any particular system, some limited subset of these interactions is likely to dominate overall sorption behavior. In saturated subsurface systems, for example, most natural solid phases have only a weak affinity for hydrophobic organic compounds. It is frequently presumed for such systems that the characterization of one major sorption reaction, such as that between organic contaminants and natural organic matter associated with soils, sufficiently characterizes the overall process. Such an approach may be problematic for circumstances in which limited characterizations developed from one set of observations are extended to different system conditions, including different contaminant concentration ranges. 

Cho, J., Sohn, J., Choi, H., Kim, I.S., and Amy, G. 2000b. Effects of molecular weight cutoff, f/k ratio (a hydrodynamic condition) and hydrophobic interactions on natural organic matter rejection and fouling in membranes. J. Water Supply Res. Technol.-AQUA 51,109-123. 

The amphiphilic nature of dissolved humic substances (DHS) lends them the ability to associate with both hydrophobic organics and polar or ionic species [62-64]. Inorganic ions or mineral colloids in solution will interact with the electrically active surface of humic material in solution or in the solid phase according to the same bonding forces which lead to the association between SP0M and the solid mineral matrix. Humic matter in water is associated with... 

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