Inhibition effect of nonionic surfactant on the corrosion of cold rolled steel in hydrochloric acid

The inhibition effect of Tween-20 as a nonionic surfactant on the corrosion of cold rolled steel (CRS) in 1.0–8.0 M HCl has been studied at different temperatures (20–50 °C) by weight loss and potentiodynamic polarization methods. Atomic force microscope (AFM) provided the CRS surface conditions. The results show that Tween-20 is a good inhibitor in 1.0 M HCl, and the inhibition efficiency (IE) increases with the inhibitor concentration, while decreases with increasing the hydrochloric acid concentration and temperature. Effect of immersion time was also studied and discussed. The adsorption of inhibitor on the CRS surface obeys the Langmuir adsorption isotherm equation. Both thermodynamic and kinetic parameters have been obtained by adsorption theory and kinetic equations. The inhibition effect is satisfactorily explained by the parameters. Polarization curves show that Tween-20 is a mixed-type inhibitor in hydrochloric acid. The results obtained from weight loss and polarization are in good agreement, and Tween-20 inhibition action could also be evidenced by surface AFM images.