Corrosion Inhibition Performance of Two Ketene Dithioacetal Derivatives for Stainless Steel in Hydrochloric Acid Solution

Abstract

The methyl 2-(1,3-dithietan-2-ylidene)-3-oxobutanoate (MDYO) and 2-(1,3-dithietan-2-ylidene) cyclohexane-1,3-dione (DYCD) were synthesized and tested at various concentrations as corrosion inhibitors for 316L stainless steel in 1 M HCl using weight loss, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), potentiodynamic polarization (PDP), surface analysis techniques (SEM/EDX and Raman spectroscopy) and Functional Density Theory (DFT) was also used to calculate quantum parameters. The obtained results indicated that the inhibition efficiency of MDYO and DYCD increases with their concentration, and the highest value of corrosion inhibition efficiency was determined in the range of concentrations investigated (0.01 × 10−3 – 10−3 M). Polarization curves (Tafel extrapolation) showed that both compounds act as mixed-type inhibitors in 1M HCl solutions. Electrochemical impedance spectra (Nyquist plots) are characterized by a capacitive loop observed at high frequencies, and another small inductive loop near low frequencies. The thermodynamic data of adsorption of the two compounds on the stainless steel surface and the activation energies were determined and then discussed. Analysis of experimental results shows that MDYO and DYCD inhibitors adsorb to the metal surface according to the Langmuir model and the mechanism of adsorption of both inhibitors involves physisorption. SEM-EDX results confirm the existence of an inhibitor protective film on the stainless steel surface. The results derived from theoretical calculations supported the experimental observation.