Effective inhibition of mild steel corrosion by 6-bromo-(2,4-dimethoxyphenyl)methylidene]imidazo [1,2-a]pyridine-2-carbohydrazide in 0.5 M HCl: Insights from experimental and computational study

Abstract

A new inhibitor, 6-bromo-(2,4-dimethoxyphenyl)methylidene]imidazo [1,2-a]pyridine-2-carbohydrazide (DMPIP) was evaluated as a corrosion inhibitor for Mild Steel (MS) in 0.5 M HCl solution at 303–323 K using potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopic (EIS) techniques. Both the techniques confirmed an increase in inhibition efficiency with the concentration of DMPIP but decrease with temperature. The highest inhibitive action (96.7%) was registered at 303 K for 500 ppm of DMPIP concentration. Polarization study revealed mixed inhibition action by DMPIP. Nyquist plot obtained for MS using EIS technique showed two capacitive loops on addition of inhibitor to HCl solution confirmed the inhibitory action of DMPIP via adsorption at the metal/solution interface. The surface morphology analysis was carried out by SEM, EDX and FTIR techniques. The adsorption process was demonstrated using Langmuir's adsorption isotherm model. The thermodynamic parameters (∆Goads, ∆Hoads) indicated that the adsorption was spontaneous and done by physisorption. Further, quantum chemical studies using Density Functional Theory (DFT) elucidated that the formation of Fe-DMPIP complex presumably due to the interaction of protonated form of DMPIP with the empty d orbitals of the iron atom.