Synergism between red tetrazolium and uracil on the corrosion of cold rolled steel in H2SO4 solution

The synergism between red tetrazolium (RT) and uracil (Ur) on the corrosion of cold rolled steel (CRS) in H2SO4 solution is first investigated by weight loss, potentiodynamic polarization, and atomic force microscope (AFM). Effects of inhibitor concentration (25-500 mg l−1), temperature (20-50 °C), and acid concentration (1.0-5.0 M) on synergism are discussed systematically. The results reveal that RT has a moderate inhibitive effect, and its adsorption obeys the Freundlich adsorption isotherm. For Ur, it has a poor effect. However, incorporation of RT with Ur significantly improves the inhibition performance, and produces synergistic inhibition effect.