Performance of some thiophene derivatives as corrosion inhibitors for 304 stainless steel in aqueous solutions

The inhibitive effect of 2-cyano-3-hydroxy-4(Ar)-5-anilino thiophene derivatives on the corrosion of 304 stainless steel (SS) in 3 M HCl solution has been investigated by weight loss, galvanostatic polarization techniques, and potentiodynamic anodic polarization in 3.5 % NaCl. The results indicate that these compounds act as inhibitors retarding the anodic and cathodic corrosion reactions. The presence of inhibitors does not change the mechanism of either hydrogen evolution reaction or SS dissolution. The activation energy and some thermodynamic parameters are calculated and discussed. These compounds are mixed-type inhibitors in the acid solution, and their adsorption on the SS surface is found to obey the Temkin adsorption isotherm. The results suggest that the percentage inhibition of these thiophene derivatives increases with increasing inhibitor concentration and decreases with increasing temperature. The synergistic parameter (S) was calculated and found to have a value greater than unity, indicating that the enhanced inhibition efficiency caused by the addition of I-, SCN-, and Br- is only due to a synergistic effect. The relationship between molecular structure and inhibition efficiency was elucidated by quantum-chemical calculations using semi-empirical self-consistent field (SCF) methods.