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The gas-chromatographic method is used to study the interaction of water and methanol molecules with active hydrophilic centres existing at the surface of thermally exfoliated graphite and graphitized thermal carbon black. The concentration of carboxyl and phenol hydroxyl groups at the surface of these sorbents is determined, and heats of adsorption of the studied molecules are shown to beQ a = 40−39 and 28−25 kJ/mol, respectively. It is also shown that adsorption of water at the hydrophilic centres at lowest relative pressure values takes place with formation of clusters consisting of n = 2 water molecules.

A complex theoretical-experimental investigation has been carried out on the interaction of water with hydrophilic centers -phenolic and carboxyl groups -on the surface of graphite and graphitized thermal carbon black in low surface occupation range. It is shown that microclusters, formed by the absorption on such centers, have a cyclic structure of 4-5 molecules similar to those observed in liquid water and on the surface of silver iodide. The formation of such structures is shown to be energetically advantageous. It is shown that the generalized Langmuir equation, derived from molecular-statistical considerations, is considerably better over a wide range of relative pressure for the description of the experimental isotherm for the adsorption of water on graphitized thermal carbon black and allows for a better interpretation of structural and energetic characteristics of adsorbed systems obtained by a complex of methods.Graphite and graphitized thermal carbon black (GTC) are suitable models for the study of the interaction of molecules of water with hydrophilic centers in basically hydrophobic adsorbents. The hydrophilic centers found on the surfaces of these molecules are 3-12 nm [1] apart from one another which is considerably greater than the van der Waals diameter of a water molecule (0.3 nm). This permits the study of the interactions of the water molecules with such hydrophilic centers at low to medium coverage of the surface "in a pure form," without complicated appearance of surface (two-dimensional) association.The study of the adsorption of water on carbon adsorbents is associated with a large number of investigations. A detailed review of this work is given, for example, in [2]. In recent years the study of the interaction of water with the surfaces of carbon surfaces, apart from its theoretical value, has acquired an important practical aspect [3][4][5] in connection with the formation of stable sooty aerosols in the upper levels of the troposphere -products of the incomplete combustion of fuels of internal combustion engines. On interaction with water, sooty aerosols not only form cirrus clouds but also appear as condensation nuclei which affect the formation of cloudiness in the troposphere.Since the surface of soot particles is similar in all properties to GTC, then the study of the interaction of water with graphite and GTC permits, if not regulation, then in ever case to predict the negative effect of the formation of cirrus clouds on the radiation balance of atmosphere and the climate of the planet.In this work we present the results of complex gas chromatographic, molecular-statistical, and quantum-chemical investigations of cluster formation of water molecules on the active centers of graphitized thermal carbon black. 0040-5760/07/4303-0191