Highly Efficient Corrosion Inhibitor for Pure Iron and Aluminum Metals in Aggressive Acidic Medium: Experimental and Computational Study

The influence of 5-Methyl-1H-benzotriazole (MHBTZ) on the corrosion of pure iron (Fe) and aluminum (Al) in 1 M HCl was investigated in this study. The experimental and theoretical aspects of MHBTZ adsorption onto pure iron (Fe) and aluminum metal (Al) surfaces, as well as the stability of adsorbed layers based on the metal type, were also studied. Different electrochemical measurements were performed to explore the corrosion rates and inhibition efficiencies on the Fe and Al surfaces at 298 K. Optical profilometry was used to obtain the 3D surface topography of Fe and Al metals after immersion with and without the MHBTZ molecule. The results showed that MHBTZ exhibited excellent inhibition properties for both metals. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) achieved inhibition efficiencies of 98.1% and 98.5% for Fe and Al, respectively, at a concentration of 2500 ppm. Potentiodynamic polarization (PDP) indicated that MHBTZ acted as a mixed-type inhibitor. Density functional theory (DFT) analysis and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were used to explore the relationship between the molecular structure of MHBTZ and its inhibition efficiency at the atomic level.