Polyaniline/chitosan as a corrosion inhibitor for mild steel in acidic medium

The inhibition performance of polyaniline (PANI)/chitosan (CTS) on metal corrosion in 0.5 M HCl was studied using electrochemical measurements, quantum chemical calculations and morphological observations. Potentiodynamic polarization measurements show that PANI/CTS acts essentially as a mixed-type inhibitor. The inhibition efficiency increases and corrosion rates decrease with increasing concentrations of PANI/CTS. The relationship between experimental inhibition efficiency and quantum chemical calculations that were developed to describe the corrosion inhibition process are discussed.