Corrosion inhibition study of pure Al and some of its alloys in 1.0 M HCl solution by impedance technique

Abstract

This paper describes the use of the potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy technique (EIS) in order to study the corrosion inhibition process of pure Al, (Al + 6%Cu) and (Al + 6%Si) alloys in 1.0 M HCl solution at the open circuit potential (OCP) in the temperature range 10–60 °C. Dodecyl phenol ethoxidate as a non-ionic surfactant (NS) inhibitor has been examined. The Nyquist diagrams consisted of a capacitive semicircle at high frequencies followed by a well defined inductive loop at low frequency values. The impedance measurements were interpreted according to a suitable equivalent circuit. The results obtained showed that the addition of the surfactant inhibits the hydrochloric acid corrosion of the three Al samples. The inhibition occurs through adsorption of the surfactant on the metal surface without modifying the mechanism of corrosion process. Potentiodynamic polarization measurements showed that the surfactant acts predominately as anodic inhibitor. The inhibition efficiency increases with an increase in the surfactant concentration, but decreases with an increase in temperature. Maximum inhibition is observed around its critical micelle concentration (CMC). The inhibition efficiency for the three Al samples decreases in the order: (Al + 6%Si) > (Al + 6%Cu) > Al. Kinetic-model and Frumkin adsorption isotherm fit well the experimental data. Thermodynamic functions for both dissolution and adsorption processes were determined.