Molybdate and tungstate as corrosion inhibitors for cold rolling steel in hydrochloric acid solution

The inhibition effects of molybdate and tungstate on the corrosion of cold rolling steel (CRS) in hydrochloric acid solution (0.1–0.5 M) were investigated by weight loss and electrochemistry methods. The results reveal that both molybdate and tungstate are very good inhibitors with little concentration. The adsorption of inhibitors on the CRS surface basically obeys the Langmuir adsorption isotherm equation. The effect of temperature on the corrosion behavior of CRS was also studied at 25 °C and 35 °C, the thermodynamic parameters such as adsorption heat (ΔH0) and adsorption free energy (ΔG0) were calculated. In the same conditions, a comparative study of corrosion inhibition of molybdate and tungstate indicated that molybdate was the better inhibitor in 0.1 M HCl. However, the value of percentage inhibition efficiency (IE) was dependent on the concentration of inhibitors in 0.2–0.5 M HCl. It seemed that molybdate did not have the strong inhibitive effect compared to tungstate with relatively small concentration of inhibitors, but molybdate was a better inhibitor over a wide concentration range of inhibitors. A kinetic study of cold rolling steel in uninhibited and inhibited acid was also discussed. Various parameters such as rate constant k and the kinetic parameter B were calculated for the reactions of corrosion. Polarization curves showed that both molybdate and tungstate are mixed-type inhibitors in acidic media.