Fabrication of new metal-free materials for the hydrogen evolution reaction on base of the acridine derivatives immobilized on carbon materials

The process of adsorption on carbon material (Vulcan XC-72 (VU)) of organic heterocyclic compounds: acridine (I) and its derivatives 9-phenylacridine (II) and N-methyl-9-phenylacridium iodide (III) was studied in detail. Quantitative data on physical adsorption were obtained for all compounds. Based on the adsorption isotherms of Langmuir, the adsorption equilibrium constants K, the parameter A∞ and ΔG0ad were calculated. It has been shown that the adsorption of compounds I and II is a structurally dependent process that depends on the nature and size of the functional substituents in the molecule, and the adsorption of compound III has a complex mechanism and partially proceeds through the stabilization stage by the functional groups present on the surface (-COOH, -COH, -OH). With the use of quantum chemical calculations, it has been established that the process of adsorption of compounds on the surface of a carbon materials having sections with a graphite-like structure is thermodynamically unprofitable because of the high difference in the energies of the adsorbent's boundary orbitals and the substrate. Using the cyclic voltammetry method, the electrochemical properties of organic compounds immobilized on the surface of a carbon material were studied. [Display omitted] •The main motifs for the immobilization of acridine derivatives on carbon containing sorbents is identified.•It is shown that in the case of neutral systems adsorption dominates due to the π-π-stacking.•Using the DFT method, the effect of the adsorbent boundary orbitals and the surface on the efficiency of the process.