Feng
Yang
a,
Yu
Liu
ab,
Tong
Liu
b,
Shuan
Liu
*b and
Haichao
Zhao
*b
aSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, ShenYang University of Chemical Technology, ShenYang, 110142, China
bKey Laboratory of Marine Materials and Related Technologies, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Protective Technologies, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, 315201, China. E-mail: liushuan@nimte.ac.cn; zhaohaichao@nimte.ac.cn
First published on 25th September 2019
In this work, a water-soluble host–guest complex containing carboxymethylated beta-cyclodextrin (CM-β-CD) and an aniline trimer (AT) was synthesized. The application of AT–CM-β-CD as an inhibitor for alleviating the corrosion of Q235 carbon steel in 1 M HCl solution was investigated by potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Results showed that the inhibition efficiency was significantly increased in the presence of AT–CM-β-CD, and the inhibition efficiency was up to 99.2% when the concentration of AT–CM-β-CD was 250 mg L−1. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) confirmed that the corrosion inhibitor had excellent corrosion inhibition effects due to the formation of an adsorption film on the surface of Q235 carbon steel. According to the data extracted from the Langmuir adsorption model, AT–CM-β-CD absorption involves both physisorption and chemisorption.
After continuous exploration by many researchers, conductive polymer materials have been successfully developed into many applications such as metal anti-corrosion, supercapacitors, sensors, and electrochromism, etc.5–8 Initially, conductive polymers (CPs) can be used as corrosion inhibiting additive for organic protective coatings.9–12 In the 1980s, Mengoli et al.13 and DeBerry.14 first proposed the possibility of corrosion protection of steel by polyaniline (PANI), which improved the quality of the passivation layer on steel by anodic polarization. PANI is a kind of conductive polymer material with low price and good corrosion resistance. However, the pristine polyaniline has poor solubility either in an organic solvent or aqueous solution, which limited its application as a corrosive inhibitor. Although oligomeric polyaniline such as aniline trimer and tetraaniline showed enhanced solubility in the organic solvent while retaining the similar electrooptical properties of polyaniline, they still suffered from poor solubility in aqueous solution. We have recently synthesized water-soluble quaternary ammonium cation containing tetraaniline with the high inhibition efficiency and adsorption isotherm studies confirmed the adsorption process on Q235 steel surface involved both physisorption and chemisorption.15 Novel trianiline and polyethylene glycol containing water-soluble polyurethane (TAPU) was also prepared, and potentiodynamic polarization curves showed that the TAPU affected both cathodic and anodic protection and was a mixed type inhibitor.16
Cyclodextrin is a cyclic polysaccharide capable of forming host–guest inclusion complexes with appropriately sized hydrophobic molecules or even nanomaterials in aqueous solution.17–21 carboxymethylated beta-cyclodextrin (CM-β-CD) also has these functions, and its water solubility is greatly improved compared to its unsubstituted analogues. It is utilized as a nano-platform to carry various materials, which can improve the solubility and stability of functional molecules, and also play a sustained release effect. In this work, water-soluble CM-β-CD and aniline trimer (AT) containing host–guest complex AT–CM-β-CD was synthesized as corrosion inhibitor for Q235 carbon steel in HCl solution and the corrosion inhibitive effect on Q235 carbon steel was investigated in HCl medium by using potentiodynamic polarization, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and laser scanning confocal microscope (LSCM) analysis.
Fig. 3 presents the FTIR spectra of CD, CM-β-CD, CD and AT–CM-β-CD. The absorption peak at 3407 cm−1 is the –OH absorption peak of β-CD and the C–H peak appears at 2928 cm−1; while the absorption peak intensity of CM-β-CD at 1660 cm−1 is significantly enhanced, indicating the presence of CO absorption peak from a carboxyl substituent.22 The aniline trimer has a terminal –NH2 characteristic absorption at 3028–3306 cm−1, and the –CC– stretching vibration of the anthracene ring and the benzene ring at 1603 cm−1 and 1502 cm−1, respectively. The absorption peak at 1280 cm−1 is –CN stretching vibration, 1145 cm−1 is the hydrocarbon stretching vibration in the plane on the benzene ring, and 823 cm−1 is the para-hydrocarbon bending vibration of the para-substituted benzene ring.23 AT–CM-β-CD is significantly enhanced relative to the AT absorption peak at 2928–3295 cm−1 and 1591 cm−1, indicating that the AT–CM-β-CD was successfully synthesized.
Fig. 4 shows the UV-Vis spectra patterns of AT and AT–CM-β-CD. AT displays two main peaks at 295 and 582 nm corresponding to π–π* transition of the benzene ring and the benzenoid to quinoid (πB–πQ) excitonic transition, indicating weaker intermolecular interactions.24 For AT–CM-β-CD, the peaks at 301, 400 and 590 nm are attributed to the π–π* transition, the polaron → π* and π → polaron transitions, which demonstrated the formation of conductive state.24 In addition, this also indirectly illustrates the synthesis of AT–CM-β-CD.
Fig. 5 shows the weight loss of CM-β-CD, AT and AT–CM-β-CD by TGA measurements. The initial weight loss of CM-β-CD, AT and AT–CM-β-CD was observed in the temperature range below 100 °C, which was due to its high hydrophilicity group, resulting in water adsorption in the powder. Clearly, CM-β-CD and AT–CM-β-CD showed significant weight loss regions around 300 °C, which was associated with thermal decomposition of CM-β-CD molecules.25 AT and AT–CM-β-CD showed weight loss due to thermal decomposition, and we observed multiple thermal degradation processes. The first stage was the decomposition of the amine group (between 250 and 300 °C) and the second stage was the decomposition of the benzene ring (about 400 to 550 °C). Under these conditions, we can conclude that AT and CM-β-CD are successfully complexed to obtain AT–CM-β-CD.
(1) |
C (mg L−1) | E corr (mV per SCE) | i corr (μA cm−2) | β c (mV dec−1) | β a (mV dec−1) | θ | η (%) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0 | −426 | 2029 | −6.74 | 7.04 | — | — |
50 | −447 | 87.22 | −10 | 12.43 | 0.96 | 95.7 |
100 | −445 | 83.37 | −9.48 | 11.82 | 0.96 | 95.8 |
150 | −423 | 42.71 | −9.34 | 13.32 | 0.98 | 97.9 |
200 | −456 | 30.64 | −9.12 | 6.882 | 0.98 | 98.5 |
250 | −472 | 15.52 | −9.03 | 7.509 | 0.99 | 99.2 |
The results indicated that the βa value changes significantly in the presence of AT–CM-β-CD, due to the adsorption of chloride ions or inhibitor molecules on the active sites on the metal surface. The change of βc with the addition of AT–CM-β-CD indicates the effect of the inhibitor on the hydrogen evolution kinetics.30 Type inhibitors can inhibit anodic dissolution of carbon steel and cathode reduction of H+.31 It is apparent that due to the absorption of AT–CM-β-CD on the metal surface, with the icorr decreases, the value of θ and η increase as the concentration of AT–CM-β-CD increases. The lowest icorr values observed for samples immersed in 1 M HCl solution in the presence of 250 mg L−1 AT–CM-β-CD were 15.52 μA cm−2, respectively. This result proves that AT–CM-β-CD can be used as an effective corrosion inhibitor for Q235 carbon steel in 1 M HCl solution.
Fig. 7 EIS spectra of Q235 steel in 1 M HCl for various concentrations of AT–CM-β-CD after 3 h immersion (a–c); EIS spectra of Q235 steel in 1 M HCl of 250 mg L−1 for various hours immersion (d–f). |
As seen in Fig. 7, for the blank solution, a high frequency (HF) depressed semicircle with its center below the real axis is noticed followed by a straight line at low frequency (LF) range. Generally, the HF semicircle is ascribed to charge transfer resistance and double layer capacitance.32 For another, LF straight line is related to Warburg impedance due to the diffusion of dissolved oxygen to the Q235 carbon steel surface.33 The diameter of the curves increases remarkably with addition of all inhibitors compared with the blank solution, indicating high inhibitive ability of these organics. In Fig. 7, the shape of inhibited curves is similar with the uninhibited ones, revealing that the addition of AT–CM-β-CD increase the impedance but did not change the other electrochemical characteristics of the solution due to the relatively looser adsorption films. It is noted that, along with the increasing inhibitor concentration in the solution, the frequency range with the maximum phase angle becomes bigger, showing effective adsorption of inhibitor molecules on the Q235 carbon steel surface.
In Fig. 7a, the diameter of the curves was significantly increased after adding the inhibitors, indicating that AT–CM-β-CD has high inhibition ability. In Fig. 7b and c, the shape of the inhibition curve is similar to the shape of the uninhibited curve, indicating that the addition of AT–CM-β-CD increases the impedance but does not alter the other electrochemical properties of the solution due to the relatively loose adsorption film. It is worth noting that the frequency range of maximum phase angle increases with the increase of inhibitor concentration in solution, indicating efficient adsorption of the inhibitor molecule on the surface of the Q235 carbon steel.
The effect of immersion time on AT–CM-β-CD corrosion inhibitor was studied. As shown in Fig. 7d–f, the impedance modulus of Q235 carbon steel increased with the immersion time, which confirmed that the corrosion inhibition ability of AT–CM-β-CD exhibited a certain relationship with time. It can be seen from Fig. 7d, that the semicircle radius of capacitor increases with the prolongation of immersion time. This phenomenon may be due to the adsorption of AT–CM-β-CD on carbon steel resulting in the increase of interface impedance, and the film formed by the adsorption of corrosion inhibitor molecules on the surface of steel becomes more denser with time, which plays an excellent protective function.
According to EIS results of all samples, an appropriate equivalent circuit diagram model, such as Fig. 8 is obtained, in the equivalent circuit, Rs, Rc, and Rct correspond to solution resistance, the adsorption layer resistance, and charge transfer resistance, respectively, and the Qc and Qdl are related to the adsorption layer and the double layer capacitance. The corresponding electrochemical parameters are listed in Table 2. The inhibition efficiency (η) was calculated as follows:26
(2) |
Fig. 8 Equivalent circuit model of corrosion process to fit the EIS results in 1 M HCl solution in the absence of AT–CM-β-CD (a), and in other cases (b). |
C (mg L−1) | R s (Ω cm2) | R c (Ω cm2) | R ct (Ω cm2) | C dl (μF cm−2) | χ 2 (10−3) | η (%) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0 | 1.46 | — | 14.02 | 771.40 | 14.98 | — |
50 | 1.79 | 19.51 | 260.90 | 144.50 | 10.61 | 94.6 |
100 | 1.95 | 17.28 | 363.50 | 136.10 | 6.99 | 96.1 |
150 | 5.05 | 24.52 | 606.60 | 99.44 | 1.39 | 97.6 |
200 | 1.78 | 25.46 | 897.90 | 75.96 | 7.53 | 98.4 |
250 | 1.73 | 34.13 | 1135.00 | 79.66 | 6.02 | 98.8 |
Electrochemical impedance parameters are listed in Table 2. The chi-square (χ2) test was used to assess the accuracy of the fitted data. Table 2 shows that the χ2 value is approximately 10−3, indicating that the fitted data agree well with the experimental data. The Rct value increases and the Cdl value decreases with the addition of the inhibitor. It can be inferred that the adsorption film formed on the surface of Q235 carbon steel, thus inhibiting the corrosion process.34–38 As a result, the inhibition efficiency increased with increase of the concentration of inhibitors and reach 94.6% for 50 mg L−1, 96.1% for 100 mg L−1, 97.6% for 150 mg L−1, 98.4% for 200 mg L−1, and 98.8% for 250 mg L−1 of the AT–CM-β-CD, respectively. The results show that with the increase of inhibitor concentration, the inhibitor have a better inhibition effect on Q235 carbon steel.
Fig. 9 The SEM images for the polished Q235 carbon steel (a) before and after 3 h of immersion in 1 M HCl solution (b) and in the presence of 50 mg L−1 (c) and 250 mg L−1 (d) of AT–CM-β-CD. |
The EDS spectra and corresponding percentage weight contents are shown in Fig. 10a–d and Table 3. Fig. 10a is an EDS spectrum of Q235 carbon steel in 1 M HCl solution showing C (2.19 wt%), O (5.20 wt%) and Fe (83.46 wt%). For Q235 carbon steel in the presence of 250 mg L−1 AT–CM-β-CD in 1 M HCl solution, EDS spectrum C (4.67 wt%), O (2.46 wt%) and Fe (82.66 wt%). However, the EDS spectrum of the 1 M HCl solution in the presence of AT–CM-β-CD was different from the EDS spectrum in the 1 M HCl solution. The decrease in Fe content in the presence of AT–CM-β-CD was 82.66 wt%. These data indicate that the addition of AT–CM-β-CD significantly retards the corrosion of Q235 carbon steel. As shown in the Table 3, after the addition of the prepared AT–CM-β-CD inhibitor, the content of O decreased, the content of N increased. Thereinto, O was derived from the oxide generated during the corrosion process, and N was derived from as-prepared AT–CM-β-CD inhibitor, indicating that the corrosion inhibitor (AT) adsorbed on the steel surface, which hindered the corrosion reaction of Q235 steel in 1 M HCl.
Fig. 10 The EDS spectra of the Q235 carbon steel after 3 h of immersion in 1 M HCl solution in the absence (a) and presence (b) of 250 mg L−1 of AT–CM-β-CD. |
C (wt%) | Fe (wt%) | O (wt%) | N (wt%) | Cl (wt%) | Others (wt%) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0 mg L−1 | 2.19 | 83.46 | 5.20 | — | 8.37 | 0.78 |
250 mg L−1 | 4.67 | 82.66 | 2.46 | 1.03 | 8.21 | 0.97 |
After immersing for 3 h, the surface roughness (Ra) of Q235 carbon steel was measured by LSCM, as shown in Fig. 11. The polished Q235 carbon steel before impregnation had a Ra value of about 0.21 μm (Fig. 11a). After immersing for 3 hours in 1 M HCl solution, the Ra value of the sample was about 1.06 μm (Fig. 11b). In the presence of 150 mg L−1 and 250 mg L−1 of AT–CM-β-CD, the Ra values were significantly lower than those in the 1 M HCl solution, which were 0.65 μm and 0.95 μm, respectively (Fig. 11c and d). The results show that the addition of AT–CM-β-CD can inhibit the corrosion of Q235 carbon steel in 1 M HCl solution to some extent, but the corrosion of the sample surface still exists.
Fig. 11 The surface roughness (Ra) of the polished Q235 carbon steel before (a) and after 3 h of immersion in 1 M HCl solution in the absence (b) and 150 mg L−1 (c) and 250 mg L−1 (d) of AT–CM-β-CD. |
(3) |
Fig. 12 shows the plots of C versus C/θ yield straight lines with the intercept of 1/K. The standard adsorption free energy ΔG0ads can be calculated as follows,40
ΔG0ads = −RTln(1000Kads) | (4) |
Corresponding thermodynamic parameters for the inhibitor are also given in Fig. 12. Usually, a high value of Kads and low value of ΔG0ads indicate that the inhibitor could be strongly adsorbed on the metal surface, showing a superior inhibitive ability. The values of Kads listed in Fig. 12 follow the order: 50 mg L−1 < 100 mg L−1 < 150 mg L−1 < 200 mg L−1 < 250 mg L−1, and inverse trend are obtained for ΔG0ads. These results reveal that AT–CM-β-CD with suitable concentration possess stronger adsorption affinity onto the Q235 carbon steel surface, and thus exhibit better inhibition behavior. Typically, the value of ΔG0ads close to −20 kJ mol−1 or less suggests physisorption. The value of ΔG0ads close to −40 kJ mol−1 or more suggests chemisorption.15 The calculated values of ΔG0ads is −31.36 kJ mol−1, which means that the study of the interaction between solution and Q235 carbon steel surface suggests both physisorption and chemisorption.41,42
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