Many organic compounds used as corrosion inhibitors are complex, which may result from very complicated chemical structures, mixture of different species, or to many tedious steps involved in their synthesis or preparation. In this study, we demonstrate the less complex inhibition of triazole- and imidazole-based compounds, which are synthesized in a one-step fashion and possess simple chemical structures. The inhibition effect is studied on the corrosion of mild steel in 1 M HCl solution at 40 <sup>o</sup>C via electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), potentiodynamic polarization, and weight loss. Results from electrochemical measurements showed that the aromatic compounds were effective in inhibiting corrosion in acidic medium, such that, the inhibition efficiency increased with increasing inhibitor concentration, with the triazole-based compound being the most efficient at a concentration of 850 μM. This result was supported by the analyses obtained from scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and x-ray diffraction (XRD) technique, which revealed the extent of formation of corrosion products. In addition, the adsorption of a protective inhibitor layer on the metal surface is confirmed by Raman spectroscopy.

Corrosion inhibition of mild steel in acidic medium by simple triazole- and imidazole-based aromatic compounds

2019 Spring National Meeting

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