SYNERGISTIC INFLUENCE OF POLYVINYL ALCOHOL AND SURFACTANTS ON THE CORROSION INHIBITION OF MILD STEEL IN 0.1 M H2SO4

Abstract

The corrosion inhibition behavior of mild steel in 0.1 M H2SO4 in the presence of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was investigated using weight loss and potentiodynamic polarization measurements in the temperature range of 30°–60°C. The inhibition efficiency (IE) increased with increasing PVA concentration, showing a maximum IE of 81.41% at 30°C at 100 mg/L and decreased with increasing temperature. The inhibiting action of PVA is synergistically enhanced on addition of very small amounts of surfactants sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and cetyl pyridinium chloride (CPC). The adsorption of PVA alone or in combination with surfactants on the metal surface is found to obey the Langmuir adsorption isotherm from the fit of the experimental data of all concentrations and temperatures studied. The synergism parameter evaluated is found to be greater than unity, indicating that the enhanced IE of PVA caused by addition of surfactants is due only to synergism. The phenomenon of physical adsorption is proposed from the trend of the IE with temperature as well as the values of Ea, ΔHads, and ΔGads obtained. Thermodynamic parameters reveal that the adsorption process is spontaneous. The results obtained by weight loss measurements are consistent with the results of the potentiodynamic polarization measurements. The surface morphology of the corroded steel samples in the presence and absence of inhibitors was also evaluated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM).