Uses of scanning electrochemical microscopy for the characterization of thin inhibitor films on reactive metals: The protection of copper surfaces by benzotriazole

Influence of Carboxymethyl Chitosan and Sodium Humate Composite Corrosion Inhibitor on the Corrosion Resistance of EH40 Steel in Seawater

In this study, corrosion weight loss experiments were conducted to explore the corrosion-inhibiting properties of a composite inhibitor consisting of carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) and sodium humate (SH) at varying concentrations on EH40 steel in seawater. An investigation was conducted into the electrochemical behavior of EH40 steel in seawater and the mechanism of composite inhibitor consisting of carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) and sodium humate (SH) at varying concentrations on EH40 steel in seawater through an electrochemical test. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersion spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), Fourier transform infrared absorption spectroscopy (FTIR), and contact angle measurements were performed to confirm the mechanism of CMCS and SH as well as their composite corrosion inhibitors at the interface between seawater and EH40 steel. Furthermore, density functional theory (DFT) calculation supports the experimental findings. The results show that CMCS, SH, and their composite inhibitor are a mixed type of corrosion inhibitor that mainly inhibits cathodic reactions and corrosion through the active site blocking mechanisms. Their corrosion inhibition effect increases with the increase of mass concentration, and the composite inhibitor performs better in corrosion inhibition and scale inhibition than the individual inhibitor. When the CMCS mass concentration reaches 100 mg/L and the SH mass concentration reaches 50 mg/L, the corrosion inhibition rate is 74.65%, the corrosion potential shifts by about 47.39 mV, the Rp value increases from 358.6 to 1102.4 Ω·cm2, and the Ydl value decreases from 177.31 Sn Ω-1cm-2 × 10-6 to 92.672 Sn Ω-1cm-2 × 10-6. CMCS and SH are adsorbed onto the surface of EH40 steel, forming a protective film through the complexation of carboxyl, amino, and other functional groups to inhibit corrosion and prevent the further formation of scale. In addition, synergistic coadsorption occurs between CMCS and SH, and the composite corrosion inhibitor exerts a better effect than the individual corrosion inhibitor.

Prolonged corrosion protection via application of 4-ferrocenylbutyl saturated carboxylate ester derivatives with superior inhibition performance for mild steel

A series of 4-ferrcenylbutyl carboxylate esters with different alkyl chain length (C2-C4) of carboxylic acids were synthesized using Fe3O4@SiO2@(CH2)3-Im-bisEthylFc[I] nanoparticles as catalyst and have been characterized with FT-IR, 1H NMR, and 13C NMR. Ferrocenyl-based esters were used as corrosion inhibitors of mild steel in the 1M HCl solution as corrosive media. The corrosion inhibition efficiency of the synthesized ferrocenyl-based esters has been assessed by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), potentiodynamic polarization (PDP), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The 4-ferrocenylbutyl propionate showed a more effective corrosion inhibition behavior among the studied esters with 96% efficiency after immersion in the corrosive media for 2 weeks. The corrosion inhibition mechanism is dominated by formation of passive layer of inhibitor on the surface of the mild steel by adsorption. Moreover, the adsorption characteristics of 4-butylferrcenyl carboxylate esters on mild steel were thoroughly explored using density functional theory calculations. It was found that the Fe atoms located around the C impurity in the mild steel are the most efficient and active sites to adsorb 4-butylferrcenyl carboxylate esters.

Uses of Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy (SECM) for the Characterization with Spatial and Chemical Resolution of Thin Surface Layers and Coating Systems Applied on Metals: A Review

Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy (SECM) is increasingly used in the study and characterization of thin surface films as well as organic and inorganic coatings applied on metals for the collection of spatially- and chemically-resolved information on the localized reactions related to material degradation processes. The movement of a microelectrode (ME) in close proximity to the interface under study allows the application of various experimental procedures that can be classified into amperometric and potentiometric operations depending on either sensing faradaic currents or concentration distributions resulting from the corrosion process. Quantitative analysis can be performed using the ME signal, thus revealing different sample properties and/or the influence of the environment and experimental variables that can be observed on different length scales. In this way, identification of the earlier stages for localized corrosion initiation, the adsorption and formation of inhibitor layers, monitoring of water and specific ions uptake by intact polymeric coatings applied on metals for corrosion protection as well as lixiviation, and detection of coating swelling—which constitutes the earlier stages of blistering—have been successfully achieved. Unfortunately, despite these successful applications of SECM for the characterization of surface layers and coating systems applied on metallic materials, we often find in the scientific literature insufficient or even inadequate description of experimental conditions related to the reliability and reproducibility of SECM data for validation. This review focuses specifically on these features as a continuation of a previous review describing the applications of SECM in this field.

Benzotriazolate cage complexes of tin(II) and lithium: halide-influenced serendipitous assembly

The one-pot reactions of the tin(II) halides SnX(2) (X = F, Cl, Br, I) with lithium hexamethyldisilazide, [Li(hmds)], and benzotriazole, (bta)H, produce contrasting outcomes. Tin(II) fluoride does not react with [Li(hmds)] and (bta)H, the outcome being the formation of insoluble [Li(bta)](∞). Tin(II) chloride and tin(II) bromide react with [Li(hmds)] and (bta)H in toluene to produce the hexadecametallic tin(II)-lithium cages [(hmds)(8)Sn(8)(bta)(12)Li(8)X(4)]·(n toluene) [X = Cl, 3·(8 toluene); X = Br, 4·(3 toluene)]. The reaction of tin(II) iodide with [Li(hmds)] and (bta)H in thf solvent produces the ion-separated species [{(thf)(2)Li(bta)}(3){Li(thf)}](2)[SnI(4)]·(thf), [5](2)[SnI(4)]·(thf), the structure of which contains a cyclic trimeric unit of lithium benzotriazolate and a rare example of the tetraiodostannate(II) dianion.