The inhibition performance of long-chain alkyl-substituted benzimidazole derivatives for corrosion of mild steel in HCl

•Inhibition performance of long-chain alkyl-substituted benzimidazole.•Benzimidazole segment donating electrons to metal surface.•Non-polar long chain enhancing inhibition by the barrier effect.•Molecular form of DBI more tightly adsorbs on the steel than its protonated form.

The corrosion inhibition of a new benzimidazole derivative, 6-(dodecyloxy)-1H-benzo[d]imidazole (DBI), for mild steel in 1 M HCl was investigated in this paper. Computational chemistry was performed to explore the adsorption of DBI on metal surface. Inhibition performance of DBI is attributed to both the direct interaction of benzimidazole segment with iron surface and the barrier effect of the non-polar long chain against aggressive solution. Compared to the protonated form, the molecular form of DBI could more tightly interact with iron surface. These results show that the long-chain alkyl-substituted benzimidazole derivative is of great potential application as corrosion inhibitor.