Corrosion inhibition of mild steel in 1.0 M hydrochloric acid medium by new photo-cross-linkable polymers

Photo-cross-linkable polymers namely, poly((E)-(1-(5-(4-(3-(4-chlorophenyl)-3-oxoprop-1-enyl)phenoxy)pentyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methyl acrylate) (Cl-5) and poly((E)-(1-(5-(4-(3-(4-chlorophenyl)-3-oxoprop-1-enyl)phenoxy)decyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methyl acrylate) (Cl-10) were synthesized by click-chemistry. The polymers were characterized by using various spectroscopic techniques and the rate of cross-linking was evaluated by absorption spectroscopy. The inhibitory action of the photo-cross-linkable polymers was evaluated for mild steel (MS) corrosion in 1.0 M hydrochloric acid solution (HCl) by means of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, potentiodynamic polarization measurements, adsorption isotherms and surface analysis. To the best of our knowledge, these are the most efficient inhibitors (Cl-5 and C-10) for the corrosion of MS in HCl reported so far. Tafel polarization measurements showed that the polymers act as mixed type inhibitors and the adsorption of the inhibitors onto the MS surface followed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The values of the Gibbs free energy of adsorption (ΔG_ads) strongly supported spontaneous physicochemical adsorption of inhibitor molecules on the MS surface. The SEM-EDX results confirmed that the cross-linked polymers inhibited the corrosion to a greater extent than the intact polymer.