Electrochemical behaviour of carbon steel in acid chloride solution in the presence of dodecyl cysteine hydrochloride self-assembled on gold nanoparticles

In this work, the dodecyl cysteine hydrochloride surfactant was synthesized. The surface properties of this surfactant were studied using surface tension technique. The nanostructure of this surfactant with the prepared gold nanoparticles was investigated using TEM technique. The synthesized surfactant and its nanostructure with the prepared gold nanoparticles were examined as non-toxic corrosion inhibitors for carbon steel in 2 M HCl solution using potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy techniques. The results show that the percentage inhibition efficiency (η%) for each inhibitor increases with increasing concentration until critical micelle concentration (CMC) is reached. The maximum inhibition efficiency approached 76.6% in the presence of 175 ppm of dodecyl cysteine and 90.8% in the presence of the same concentration of dodecyl cysteine hydrochloride self-assembled on gold nanoparticles. Polarization data indicate that the selected additives act as mixed type inhibitors. The slopes of the cathodic and anodic Tafel lines (β_c and β_a) are approximately constant and independent of the inhibitor concentration. Analysis of the impedance spectra indicates that the charge transfer process mainly controls the corrosion process of carbon steel in 2 M HCl solution both in the absence and presence of the inhibitors. Adsorption of these inhibitors on carbon steel surface is found to obey the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. From the adsorption isotherms the values of adsorption equilibrium constants (K_ads) were calculated. The relatively high value of (K_ads) in case of dodecyl cysteine hydrochloride self-assembled on gold nanoparticles reveals a strong interaction between the inhibitor molecules and the metal surface.