A research combined experimental and computational approaches of Succinylsulfathiazole Hydrate as potent corrosion inhibitor for mild steel in acidic medium

Abstract

Organic derivatives are a relatively new and effective family of corrosion inhibitors, according to recent studies, and they almost totally satisfy the requirements for a chemical to be utilized as an aqueous phase corrosion inhibitor. The current study demonstrated the use of a thiazole derivative, namely Succinylsulfathiazole Hydrate (SSTH) as a corrosion inhibitor (CI) to safeguard mild steel (MS) in 1 M HCl media. Gravimetric, electrochemical (EC), and surface characterization methods have been utilized to evaluate the SSTH’s effectiveness at mitigating corrosion. According to the projected findings of the gravimetric investigation, the SSTH followed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm (LAI) model, providing additional resilience and improved inhibition efficiency against MS corrosion, with maximal inhibitive effectiveness (IEWL%), being 96.13% for SSTH. Furthermore, the electrochemical results revealed a mixed adsorption character of SSTH's inhibitive activity with cathodic dominance highlighting how polarization resistance (Rp) values rise from (35.99 - 448.25) Ω.cm2 with augmentation in the concentration of SSTH (50 → 800) ppm and approach the peak value of 448.25 Ω.cm2 at 800 ppm of SSTH. To authenticate the experimental findings, theoretical methods including quantum chemical calculation (QCC) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation were also operated. With the aid of these theoretical approaches in the computation of the quantum chemical parameters, the association between the inhibitory activity and the molecular structure was discovered.