Surface morphology studies and kinetic-thermodynamic characterization of steels treated in 5.0 M HCl medium: hot-dip galvanizing application

The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of silicon and phosphorus content in steel suitable for galvanizing on its corrosion and inhibitor adsorption processes in steels/cetyltrimethylammonium bromide combined and KI (mixture)/5.0 M hydrochloric acid systems has been studied in relation to the temperature using chemical (weight loss), Tafel polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), scanning electronic microscope (SEM) analysis and Optical 3D profilometry characterization. All the methods used are in reasonable agreement. The kinetic and thermodynamic parameters for each steels corrosion and inhibitor adsorption, respectively, were determined and discussed. Results show that the adsorption capacity for Steel Classes A and B are better than Steel Class C surfaces depending on their silicon and phosphorus content. Surface analyses via SEM and Optical 3D profilometry was used to investigate the morphology of the steels before and after immersion in 5.0 M HCl solution containing mixture. Surface analysis revealed improvement of corrosion resistance of Steels Classes A and B in the presence of mixture more than Classes C. It has been determined that the adsorbed protective film on the steels surface heterogeneity markedly depends on steels compositions, that is, the heterogeneity increases with decreasing silicon and phosphorus content.

The effect of silicon and phosphorus content in Steels Classes A, B and C on its corrosion and inhibitor mixture adsorption processes in 5.0 M HCl solution has been studied by weight loss, potentiodynamic polarization, EIS and surface analysis.

The inhibition efficiency of mixture follows the order: (Steel Class A) > (Steel Class B) > Steel Class C) and depends on their compositions in the absence of mixture according on their silicon and phosphorus content, that is, the corrosion rate increases with increasing of the silicon and phosphorus content. A potentiodynamic polarization measurement indicates that the mixture acts as mixed-type inhibitor without changing the mechanism of corrosion process for the three classes of mild steels.

Corrosion rate mild steels in 5.0 M HCl depends on their compositions in the absence of mixture according to their silicon and phosphorus content, that is, the corrosion rate increases with increasing silicon and phosphorus content. The adsorbed protective film on the steels surface heterogeneity markedly depends on steels class’s compositions, that is, the heterogeneity increases with decreasing silicon and phosphorus content.