Inhibitory Properties of Neomycin Thin Film Formed on Carbon Steel in Sulfuric Acid Solution: Electrochemical and AFM Investigation

Our study aims to implement a strategy to reduce the carbon steel corrosion rate in a sulfuric acid solution, using an expired drug with adsorption affinity on the metal surface. To investigate the corrosion protection efficiency of an environmental friendly inhibitor, namely neomycin sulfate (NMS), the electrochemical measurements were applied on carbon steel immersed in 1.0 M H2SO4 solution with and without NMS. The protective layer that formed on the steel surface was studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) showed that the presence of the neomycin sulfate in acid solution leads to the decrease in corrosion current density (icorr) and the increase of polarization resistance (Rp). The mixed mechanism between physical and chemical adsorption of NMS molecules on the steel surface was proposed according to the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. AFM indicated that the NMS molecules contributed to a protective layer formation by their adsorption on the steel surface. The AFM parameters, such as root mean square roughness (Rq), average roughness (Ra), and maximum peak to valley height (Rp−v) revealed that in the presence of NMS a smoother surface of carbon steel was obtained, compared to the steel surface corroded in sulfuric acid blank solution.