Abstract
The corrosion inhibtion behaviour of two new benzimidazole derivatives namely 2-(2-Bromophenyl)-1H-benzimidazole (BPBA) and 2-(2-Bromophenyl)-1-methyl-1H-benzimidazole (BPMA) on carbon steel in 0.5 M HCl solution was investigated using electrochemical methods such as potentiodynamic polarization sweeps (Tafel plots) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), attenuated total reflectance Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and contact angle techniques were carried out to established the inhibitive properties of BPBA and BPMA on carbon steel. Computer simulations using density functional theory (DFT) was further employed to provide further insights into the mechanism of electron transfer from the inhibitors to the carbon steel surface. All the results confirmed that BPBA and BPMA are effective corrosion inhibitors for carbon steel. BPMA showed improve inhibition efficiency than BPBA which has been validated using experimental and theoretical approaches.
