Macrocyclic Compounds as Corrosion Inhibitors

The influence of three macrocyclic compounds on corrosion of mild steel (MS) in hydrochloric acid (HCl) was investigated using weight loss, potentiodynamic polarization, alternating current (AC) impedance, and hydrogen permeation techniques. All the investigated compounds showed significant efficiencies and reduced permeation of hydrogen through MS in HCl. Inhibition efficiency (IE) varied with the nature and concentrations of the inhibitors, temperature, and concentrations of the acid solutions. The addition of iodide ions (I−) increased IE of all the tested compounds as a result of the synergistic effect. Potentiodynamic polarization results revealed that macrocyclic compounds acted as mixed inhibitors in 1 M HCl to 5 M HCl. Adsorption on the metal surface obeyed Temkin’s adsorption isotherm. Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) of the polished MS surface, exposed with tetraphenyldithia-octaazacyclotetradeca-hexaene (PTAT) proved adsorption of this compound on the surface through nitrogen and sulfur atoms.