Ascorbic Acid, Ascorbate, and Dehydroascorbic Acid as Green Corrosion Inhibitors: A Computational Investigation

Ascorbic acid is widely used as an immunity-enhancing and antioxidant supplement for treating influenza and other virus-based illnesses. The lactone ring and the oxygenated groups make this system and derived structures attractive as possible environmentally friendly green corrosion inhibitors. Thus, we investigate the corrosion inhibition influence of ascorbic acid, ascorbate, and dehydroascorbic acid on the α-Fe(110) surface using density functional theory calculations. The adsorption, density of states, and charge transfer results indicate that dehydroascorbic acid is this series’s most potent corrosion inhibitor. The projected density of states near the Fermi energy reveals notable hybridization between the iron surface and dehydroascorbic acid adsorbed on it. The calculated structural, electronic, and energetic properties obtained in this work pave the way for understanding the corrosion inhibitory performance of the investigated systems.