Experimental and theoretical studies of two imidazolium-based ionic liquids as inhibitors for mild steel in sulfuric acid solution

•OMIMBr and [AOIM]Br are modest cathodic inhibitors for mild steel in 0.5 M H2SO4.•AOIMBr shows better corrosion inhibition due to the allyl electron-donating group.•Inhibitor mainly physically adsorbs on steel surface via positively charged N atom.•The adsorption of inhibitor molecules obeys El-Awady thermodynamic–kinetic model.

The inhibition performance and mechanism of 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide ([OMIM]Br) and 1-allyl-3-octylimidazolium bromide ([AOIM]Br) for the corrosion of mild steel in 0.5 M H2SO4 were investigated using weight loss method, electrochemical measurements, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and quantum chemical calculation. The results revealed that [OMIM]Br and [AOIM]Br acted as modest cathodic inhibitors, and due to the electron-donating effect of allyl group, [AOIM]Br showed better inhibitive performance. The adsorption of both inhibitors on steel surface obeyed El-Awady thermodynamic–kinetic model, thus the thermodynamic and kinetic parameters were calculated and discussed. Moreover, theoretical calculation was used to investigate inhibition mechanism of studied inhibitors.