Tryptamine as a corrosion inhibitor of mild steel in hydrochloric acid solution

The inhibitor effect of tryptamine on the corrosion of mild steel in 0.5 M hydrochloric acid at 30 °C was investigated using linear polarization, potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques. The inhibition efficiency increases with an increase in concentration of tryptamine. At 500 ppm tryptamine the inhibition efficiency calculated by these techniques is around 97%. Cathodic and anodic polarization curves of mild steel in the presence of different concentrations of tryptamine at 30 °C reveal that it is a mixed type inhibitor. Tryptamine follows Langmuir adsorption with adsorption free energy of −35.07 kJ mol−1.