Assessment of corrosion inhibitive behavior of 2-aminothiophenol derivatives on carbon steel in 1 M HCl

•Protection of carbon steel in 1 M HCl by 2-ATP derivatives.•The inhibitors act by reducing the rates of both anodic and cathodic potentials.•Polarization results indicate that all studied compounds are mixed-type inhibitors.•EIS plots showed the adsorptive mechanism of corrosion inhibition.•Theoretical calculations provide good support to experimental results.

The inhibition effect of three newly synthesized 2-aminothiophenol derivatives on the corrosion of carbon steel in 1 M HCl was investigated using electrochemical measurements and quantum chemical calculations. The experimental results suggest that these compounds are efficient corrosion inhibitors and the inhibition efficiencies increase with increasing their concentrations. The efficiencies obtained from EIS measurements were in good agreement with those obtained from the polarization measurements. Polarization measurements show that these inhibitors act as mixed-type inhibitors. The adsorption of these inhibitors was found to obey Langmuir adsorption model. The computed quantum chemical properties show good correlation with experimental inhibition efficiencies.

Graphical abstractThe adsorption and corrosion inhibition mechanism of synthesized inhibitors on carbon steel in 1 M HCl was studied using electrochemical and quantum chemical techniques. The studied inhibitors act by adsorption on the metal surface via physical and chemical interactions, which reduces both anodic and cathodic reactions. The electronic properties obtained using quantum chemical approach, were correlated with the experimental inhibition efficiencies.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide