Effect of carbon steel microstructure and molecular structure of two new Schiff base compounds on inhibition performance in 1 M HCl solution by DC, SEM and XRD studies

In this investigation, attempts have been made to study the inhibitive effect of N,N′-ortho-phenylen acetyle acetone imine (S1) and 4-[(3-{[1-(2-hydroxy phenyl) methylidene] amino} propyl) ethanemidol]-1,3-benzenediol (S2) in the concentration range of 50–400 ppm for mild steel with two different microstructures resulted from two different heat treatments (annealed (A) and quenched and tempered (Q&T)) in 1 M hydrochloric acid solution. Both Schiff bases acted as a mixed type inhibitors. The S1 inhibitor for both microstructures showed better inhibition efficiency than S2. The A samples indicated slightly less corrosion than Q&T samples in 1 M HCl solution in absence of inhibitor due to the formation of duplex γ-Fe2O3/Fe3O4.