Corrosion inhibition performance of chromone-3-acrylic acid derivatives for low alloy steel with theoretical modeling and experimental aspects

•Three chromone-3-acrylic acids, synthesized and first time evaluated as corrosion inhibitors.•The inhibition efficiency ranges between 82 and 98% for Low Alloy Steel in 1 M H2SO4.•DFT calculations and MD simulations comfortably support the experimental data.•SEM and AFM studies also strengthen all the findings.

Chromone-3-acrylic acid (CA) and its derivatives viz. 6-hydroxy chromone-3-acrylic acid (6-OH-CA) and 7-methoxy chromone-3-acrylic acid (7-Me-CA) were synthesized and studied for inhibition of Low Alloy Steel corrosion in 1 M H2SO4 at different concentration and temperature using Gravimetric, Polarization technique, EIS, AFM, DFT and MD calculations. Mass loss, Potentiodynamic Polarization and EIS results showed that inhibition efficiency increased with gradual increments in concentration of CA compounds. Polarization study revealed that these compounds act as mixed type inhibitors and Langmuir adsorption isotherm is fitted well for adsorption. The order of inhibition efficiency is 7-Me-CA (88.00%) > CA (96.37%) > 6-OH-CA (96.77%). A proposed inhibition mechanism has further been described including the support from all the experimental as well as theoretical techniques.

Graphical abstractTop view of the final adsorption of tested inhibitors on the Fe (1 1 0) surface in solution.Download high-res image (307KB)Download full-size image