Synergistic and antagonistic effects between halide ions and carboxymethyl cellulose for the corrosion inhibition of mild steel in sulphuric acid solution

The corrosion and corrosion inhibition effect of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) for mild steel in sulphuric acid medium was investigated using chemical (weight loss and hydrogen evolution) techniques at 30–60 °C. The effect of addition of halide ions (Cl − , Br − , and I − ) was also studied. It was found that CMC functions as an inhibitor for acid induced corrosion for mild steel. Inhibition efficiency increases with increase in immersion time but decreases with increase in temperature. Addition of halide ions reveals that chloride ions (Cl − ) antagonize the inhibition process whereas iodide ions (I − ) exert synergistic effect on the corrosion inhibition by CMC. Corrosion inhibitive effect was afforded by adsorption of CMC molecules onto the mild steel surface both in the absence and presence of halide ions which was found to follow Langmuir adsorption isotherm model. The phenomenon of physical adsorption is proposed from decrease in inhibition efficiency with increase in temperature. The inhibition mechanism was further corroborated by the values of thermodynamic and kinetic parameters obtained from the experimental data.