Inhibitive action of indole-5-carboxylic acid towards corrosion of mild steel in deaerated 0.5 M sulfuric acid solutions

Inhibition of mild steel corrosion in deaerated 0.5 M sulfuric acid solutions containing various concentrations of indole-5-carboxylic acid is studied in the temperature range from 25°C to 55°C using weight-loss, potentiodynamic and spectrophotometric tests. The adsorptive behaviour of inhibitor is also investigated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements. The indole-5-carboxylic acid is fond to shift the corrosion potentials towards more noble values. This shift indicates that the addition of inhibitor mainly affects the anodic process, raising the anodic overpotential more than that of the cathodic, i.e. the indole-5-carboxylic acid behaves as mixed-type inhibitor. Because the cathodic Tafel slopes for hydrogen reduction (bc) are affected, the inhibitor affects the hydrogen reduction mechanism. The activation energy value (Ea) obtained, indicates that the indole-5-carboxylic acid increases the activation energy of the corrosion reaction. The adsorption behaviour of indole-5-carboxylic acid follows Langmuir’s isotherm. Both the low values of - ΔG°ads and its decrease with temperature suggest physical adsorption. Double layer capacitance-potential curves indicate considerable adsorption of the inhibitor in the potential range (-400 ÷ -800 mV/SCE).