ReviewIonic liquids as green and sustainable corrosion inhibitors for metals and alloys: An overview

•Present review article written on the topic “ionic liquids as green and sustainable corrosion inhibitors”•Several ionic liquids have been used as effective corrosion inhibitors for metals and alloys.•Ionic liquids are green and sustainable chemicals to replace the traditional toxic corrosion inhibitors.•A survey on DFT study using ionic liquids has also been described in the article.

Development of green and sustainable technologies for the corrosion prevention is highly desirable due to increasing ecological awareness and strict environmental regulations. In the last decade, metallic corrosion inhibition using ionic liquids has attracted considerable attention due to their interesting properties such as low volatility, non-inflammability, non-toxic nature, high thermal and chemical stability and their ability to adsorb on the metallic surface. The review covers on ionic liquids as “green corrosion inhibitors” for different metals and alloys such as mild steel, aluminum, copper, zinc, and magnesium in several electrolytic media. The ionic liquids are promising, noble, green and sustainable candidates to replace the traditional volatile corrosion inhibitors and can be effectively adsorb on metallic surface. Several ionic liquids have been used successfully as corrosion inhibitors for mild steel; however their use as corrosion inhibitors for non-ferrous metals is scares. Present review also describes the mechanism adsorption behavior of ionic liquids on metallic surface in common electrolytic media using quantum chemical calculations.