Carbon steel corrosion inhibition in H2SO4 0.5 M medium by thiazole-based molecules: Weight loss, electrochemical, XPS and molecular modeling approaches

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Abstract

Carbon steel (CS) corrosion prevention is a significant problem in the industry. The development of an effective protection strategy is a popular research area. In this work, three thiazole derivatives (3-(2-methoxyphenyl)−4-methylthiazol-2(3H)-thione (P1), 3-phenyl-4-methylthiazol-2(3H)-thione (P2) and 3-(2-methyl-phenyl)−4-methylthiazol-2(3H)-thione (P3)) were used in 0.5 M H2SO4 solution for CS corrosion mitigation. Weigh loss and electrochemical tests were used to assess their corrosion prevention effectiveness, while X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to examine the steel surface (XPS). Electrochemical tests showed an inhibition efficiency between 90.1% and 98.4% for CS exposed to acidic solution containing 2 × 10−4 M of the three thiazole derivatives. The three inhibitors were categorized as mixed type inhibitors since they inhibited both cathodic and anodic corrosion and they follow the Langmuir isotherm. XPS showed that inhibitor molecules formed a stable layer on steel surface through chemical and physical interactions. Furthermore, these experimental outcomes are well complemented from results analyzed by quantum chemistry calculations. Additionally, MD simulation outcomes helped in visualization of the adsorbed configuration of these compounds on the metal surface.

Introduction

Metal corrosion has been seen as a major problem in many industries. During the corrosion awareness day, it was pointed out that the annual cost of corrosion amounted to US $ 2500 billion [1] making the protection of assets against corrosion is essential. However, this cost can be reduced if the use of highly efficient corrosion reduction technologies is made. One such method to control metallic corrosion is the use of inhibitors [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12] in acidic medium. The literature reveals that the presence of hetero-atoms, non-bonding electrons and π-electrons make the organic compound an efficient corrosion inhibitor [13], [14], [15], [16]. Thiazolic and their derivatives have been shown to be good inhibitors. This is due to their polar groups and potential for complexation with the metal surface. In addition, they exhibit different pharmacobiological properties [17], [18], [19], [20]. The objective of this study is to evaluate the anticorrosion performance of three synthesized thiazolic compounds, namely 3-(2-methoxyphenyl)−4-methylthiazol-2(3H)-thione (P1), 3-phenyl-4-methylthiazol-2(3H)-thione (P2) and 3-(2-methyl-phenyl)−4-methylthiazol-2(3H)-thione (P3) using weight loss measurement and electrochemical techniques (polarization curves and impedance spectroscopy). The carbon steel surface was also examined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Quantum chemistry calculations and molecular dynamic simulation (MD) have been established.

Section snippets

Inhibitors

See Table 1.

Material and solution

The detailed description of the nature of the steel, its preparation as well as the acid solution used during this study was given in one of our works published previously [13].

Weight loss tests

Weight loss measurement was used to evaluate the inhibition action of the three inhibitors. The corrosion rate (C.R.) and inhibition efficiency (EICR%) were calculated from (1), (2):C.R.=m0miS×twhere m0 and mi are the mass of carbon steel before and after immersion, S its and t is the time of immersion (1 h).

Effect of concentration

The variation of the weight loss (1 h of immersion) at 303 K is displayed in Table 2.

Even though weight loss are primary results, they are of great interest and give basic insights about the performance of tested compounds. Based on this finding, we could obviously assume that tested thiazole derivatives act by adsorption on the steel surface, which can be favored by the presence of several nonbonding electrons on heteroatoms of functional groups.

(-CH3, -OCH3), and π-electrons of the aromatic

Conclusion

Three thiazole derivatives were tested as corrosion inhibitors for carbon steel in H2SO4 solution in this study. Weight loss, electrochemical, and XPS investigations were used to characterize the performance of inhibitors in depth. In addition, using DFT and MD simulations, the interactions between inhibitor molecules and carbon steel were investigated theoretically. The three inhibitors were found to be highly efficient against carbon steel corrosion in H2SO4, with P1 inhibitor having the best

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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