Inhibitory action of biodegradable modified vanillin on the corrosion of carbon steel in 1Â M HCl

► Vanillin derived inhibitors showed good inhibition efficiency for carbon steel in 1 M HCl. ► The efficiency increased by increasing the inhibitor concentration and the exposure time. ► The mechanism was suggested as physical adsorption and obeys the Langmuir isotherm. ► The inhibitors are readily biodegradable and meet the standard environmental limits for biodegradation.