Study of yttrium 4-nitrocinnamate to promote surface interactions with AS1020 steel

Abstract Yttrium 4-nitrocinnamate (Y(4-NO 2 Cin) 3 ) was added to an aqueous chloride solution and studied as a possible corrosion inhibition system. Electrochemical techniques and surface analysis have been powerful tools to better understand the corrosion and inhibition processes of mild steel in 0.01 M NaCl solution. A combination of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Potentiodynamic polarization (PD), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and wire beam electrode (WBE) techniques was found to be useful in the characterization of this system. The result indicated that Y(4-NO 2 Cin) 3 is able to effectively inhibit corrosion at a low concentration of 0.45 mM. Surface analysis clearly shows that the surface of steel coupons exposed to Y(4-NO 2 Cin) 3 solution remained uniform and smooth, whereas the surface of steel coupons exposed to solution without inhibitor addition was severely corroded. The results suggest that Y(4-NO 2 Cin) 3 behaves as a mixed inhibitor and mitigates corrosion by promoting random distribution of minor anodes. These are attributed to the formation of metal species bonding to the 4-nitrocinnamate component and hydrolysis of the Y(4-NO 2 Cin) 3 to form oxide/hydroxides as a protective film layer.