Blue tetrazolium as a novel corrosion inhibitor for cold rolled steel in hydrochloric acid solution

The inhibition effect of blue tetrazolium (BT) on the corrosion of cold rolled steel (CRS) in 1.0 M HCl solution at 20 °C was investigated by weight loss, potentiodynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) methods. The results show that BT is a very good inhibitor, and the adsorption of BT on CRS surface obeys Langmuir adsorption isotherm. Polarization curves reveal that BT acts as a mixed-type inhibitor. EIS spectra exhibit one capacitive loop and confirm the inhibitive ability. The inhibition action of BT is also evidenced by SEM images.