A quantitative appraisal of the binding interactions between an anionic dye, Alizarin Red S, and alkyloxypyridinium surfactants: a detailed micellization, spectroscopic and electrochemical study

The interactions of an anionic redox-active dye Alizarin Red S (ARS) with novel N-hydroxyethyl-3-alkyloxypyridinium surfactants 1-(2-hydroxyethyl)-3-(tetradecyloxy)pyridinium bromide, [HEC14OPyBr], and 1-(2-hydroxyethyl)-3-(hexadecyloxy)pyridinium bromide, [HEC16OPyBr], were investigated in an aqueous solution for the first time with an attempt to obtain comprehensive knowledge of oppositely charged dye-surfactant mixed systems. Different state-of-the-art techniques viz. conductivity, surface tension (ST), UV-visible spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry (CV), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), potentiometry, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and (1)H-NMR analysis have been employed. The presence of ARS decreases the critical micelle concentration (cmc) of alkyloxypyridinium surfactants as the ARS monomers behave as aromatic counterions. A combined analysis of the techniques revealed the existence of cation-π, π-π stacking, H-bonding, electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions among ARS and alkyloxypyridinium surfactants. A quantitative appraisal of the process of interaction among ARS and alkyloxypyridinium surfactants has been made in terms of various micellar, binding and electrochemical parameters evaluated using ST, UV-visible and voltammetric measurements. Also, the results extracted from (1)H-NMR and voltammetric measurements indicate that the catechol moiety of ARS is involved in the binding mechanism among ARS and alkyloxypyridinium surfactants.