Synergistic Influence of Poly(4-Vinylpyridine) and Potassium Iodide on Inhibition of Corrosion of Mild Steel in 1M HCl

The corrosion and inhibition behavior of mild steel in 1 M HCl in the presence of poly(4-vinylpyridine)(P4VP) and potassium iodide (KI) was investigated using weight loss measurements, potentiodynamic polarization studies and impedance measurements. The inhibition efficiency increased with increasing P4VP concentration. The inhibiting action of P4VP is considerably enhanced by the addition of potassium iodide. The adsorption of this compound either alone or in combination with iodide ions on the metal surface is found to obey Lamgmir's adsorption isotherm. The experimental results suggest that the presence of iodide ions in the solution increases the surface coverage and, therefore, indicate the joint adsorption of P4VP and iodide ions. On the other hand, it was found that the inhibiting effect of P4VP and (P4VP + KI) increased with increasing temperature of the corrosion medium. The presence of these species in the solution decreases the double layer capacitance and increases the charge transfer resistance, both derived from Nyquist plots obtained from a.c. impedance studies. The variation of charge transfer resistance with time suggests that the inhibitive action of (P4VP + KI) depends mainly on the protective inhibitor film formed on the steel surface.