Corrosion inhibition effect of pyrazole derivatives on mild steel in hydrochloric acid solution

Synthesized compounds, namely methyl 5-(4-Chlorobenzoyloxy)-1-phenyl-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxylate (MCPPC) and 5-(4-methoxyphenyl)-3-(4-methylphenyl)4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazol-1-yl-(pyridin-4-yl)methanone (MMDPPM) were investigated as corrosion inhibitor for mild steel (MS) in 15% HCl solution using weight loss measurement, potentiodynamic polarization, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) methods. Inhibition efficiency was found concentration-dependent and increased by increasing the concentration of MCPPC and MMDPPM. Both of inhibitors were efficient even at a very low concentration of 25 ppm. The inhibitors MCPPC and MMDPPM showed inhibition efficiency of 67.1 and 76.8%, respectively, at 25 ppm, whereas it was 92.0 and 95.9%, respectively, at 250 ppm concentration at 303 K. The potentiodynamic polarization curves showed that MCPPC and MMDPPM act as mixed-type inhibitor in 15% HCl solution. The Nyquist plots showed that charge transfer resistance increased and double-layer capacitance decreased on increasing the concentration of studied inhibitors due to adsorption of inhibitor molecules on MS surface. The adsorption of each inhibitor on MS surface obeys Langmuir adsorption isotherm. On the basis of thermodynamic adsorption parameters, mixed-type adsorption (physisorption and chemisorption) for the studied inhibitors on MS surface was suggested. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analyses confirmed the existence of a protective film of the inhibitor on MS surface. The density functional theory was employed for theoretical calculations, and the obtained results were found to be consistent with the experimental findings.