Nano-sized cerium vanadium oxide as corrosion inhibitor: A microstructural and release study

Abstract

• A simple chemical route to synthesize cerium vanadate. • Mixed nanostructure. • Cerium vanadate is an effective corrosion inhibitor for ferrous alloys. • It forms a layer on the steel surface. • Self-healing and smart corrosion inhibitor. The synthesized, nano-sized cerium vanadate is proposed as a self-healing corrosion inhibitor for ferrous alloys (e.g., automotive high strength steel (HSS) and mild steel (MS)). Cerium vanadate prepared at two different pH conditions (neutral and basic) showed similar corn-like morphology with nanorod structure. UV-Vis spectroscopy studies revealed that the release rate of cerium vanadate-B (basic condition) was higher than cerium vanadate-N (neutral condition) in 0.1 M NaCl solution. The specimen exposed to 0.1 M NaCl containing a supersaturated solution of cerium vanadate-B (1000 ppm) revealed 8 times and 6 times lower corrosion current density values for HSS and MS respectively than that of the one without corrosion inhibitor. There was a gradual increase in the film resistance ( R film ) on both HSS and MS observed as a function of exposure time in corrosive medium containing cerium vanadate-B inhibitor. An order higher impedance values were observed for both HSS and MS immersed for 168 h, highlighting the self-healing effect of the cerium vanadate compound. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results showed the presence of multivalent oxidation states of both cerium and vanadium species. The inhibiting action is attributed to the high solubility of cerium vanadate in the corrosive medium to form a film on the metal surface. The dissolution/solubility of the corrosion inhibitor was more favorable in neutral to alkaline conditions than in acidic conditions.