Acid‐dyes as corrosion inhibitors for mechanically pretreated aluminum

The purpose of this paper is to provide acid‐dyes, known for the dyeing of porous aluminum oxide films, as inhibitors of the corrosion of aluminum in neutral chloride solutions.

Potentiodynamic polarization plots are recorded on mechanically pretreated aluminum using a three‐electrode cell containing 0.01 M NaCl solution with or without 0.025 mM of the acid‐dyes monosulfonic methyl orange (MO), disulfonic chromotrop RR (CH), disulfonic alphazurine A (AZ) and trisulfonic light green SF yellowish (LG). The X‐ray fluorescence technique is used in certain cases for the estimation of sulfur net content of the surface of the probes and thus of the concentration of the adsorbed dye.

The inhibition efficiency of acid dyes on corrosion of mechanically pretreated aluminum seems to be related more to the presence of a following quinonoid structure which probably contributes more to the formation of mono‐ or bi‐dentate compounds with the aluminum cations in the substrate than to the number of sulfonic groups in their molecule. Thus, the triphenylmethane dyes LG and, to a greater extent AZ, having this quinonoid structure means they are more efficient as corrosion inhibitors in near‐neutral chloride solution than the azo dyes MO and CH, that do not have it.

Selected acid‐dyes such as triphenylmethane sulfonic‐dyes, which have found wide application in the dyeing industry, seem to protect aluminum against the corrosive action of chlorides.

This paper is intended to be the nucleus for the electrochemical studies of the effectiveness of acid dyes as corrosion inhibitors for aluminum.