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7.4.3 Inhibitor C

Inhibitor C is a double cation salt of hydroxycarboxylic acid.

7.4.3.1 The inhibitors efficiency of Inhibitor C on carbon steel (1020) corrosion

The inhibiting efficiency of Inhibitor C on carbon steel corrosion increased with
increasing inhibitor concentration, and the maximum efficiency was reached at an inhibi-
tor concentration of 80,000 ppm (0.28M), where the efficiency appeared to be at 42.7%,
as presented in Figure 7.9. The performance of Inhibitor C appeared to stabilize after it
reached the maximum point, as there was no significant change in the efficiency with fur-
ther increases in inhibitor concentration. The role of Inhibitor C in minimizing carbon
steel corrosion is that it functioned as a radical scavenger. Free radicals were found to be
capable of accept electrons released by the metal surface, which potentially stimulated
further iron dissolution, resulting in more material corrosion. In the presence of Inhibitor
C, these free radicals tended to react with it so that they gained electrons from the inhibi-
tor itself instead of the metal, which resulted in less metal dissolution and, therefore, less
material corrosion. Although the radical scavenging mechanism of Inhibitor C on carbon
steel corrosion remains unclear, the behaviour of Inhibitor C as a radical scavenger has
been well known. The Tafel plots of the systems containing various concentrations of In-
hibitor C are shown in Figure 7.10. The plots illustrate that increasing Inhibitor C concen-
tration affected both anodic and cathodic reactions almost equally.