Diethylenetriamine functionalized graphene oxide as a novel corrosion inhibitor for mild steel in hydrochloric acid solutions

Abstract

In the present work diethylenetriamine functionalized graphene oxide (DETA-GO) has been synthesized and its corrosion inhibition performance was evaluated in 1 M HCl for mild steel. The chemical structure of the synthesized DETA-GO was analyzed by FTIR and the morphology was studied using SEM, TEM, and FTIR. The corrosion inhibition behavior was studied using weight loss studies, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and potentiodynamic polarization. DETA-GO behaved as an efficient corrosion inhibitor as evident from the results of the electrochemical analysis. Electrochemical studies showed that the inhibition efficiency of DETA-GO increased with the concentration and reached 92.67% at a concentration of 25 mg L⁻¹. The inhibitor exhibits a mixed type nature with cathodic predominance. The protective film of the inhibitor over the mild steel surface was examined by SEM and FTIR-ATR studies. A computational study using DFT further supports the promising corrosion inhibition behavior of DETA-GO.