Experimental and computational simulations for the effect of new Arylfuranylnicotinamidine derivatives against degradation of carbon steel in acid solutions

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate three Arylfuranylnicotinamidine derivatives against corrosion of carbon steel (C-steel) in 1.0 M HCl by chemical and electrochemical means. The inhibition efficiency (%IE) increases with increasing the dose of inhibitors. The tested compounds exhibited improved performance at elevated temperature, with %IEreaching 93 percent at 21 µM. Tafel polarization method revealed that the tested compounds act as mixed-type inhibitors. The inhibition action was rationalized due to chemical adsorption of inhibition molecules on C-steel surface following Temkin’s isotherm. Surface examination was carried out by AFM and FTIR techniques. Further, theoretical chemical approaches were used to corroborate the experimental findings.Design/methodology/approachExperimental and computational methods were applied to investigate the efficiency of these new compounds. These studies are complemented with spectral studies and surface morphological scan by AFM. The theoretical results indicate good correlation with experimental findings.FindingsThe tested derivatives are promising corrosion inhibitors for C-steel in the acid environment. The molecular scaffold of this class of compounds can be used to design new highly efficient inhibitors by screening its activity by modeling studies.Originality/valueThe studied compounds are safe inhibitors and greatly adsorbed on Fe surface. The action of compounds is enhanced with temperature, which means these compounds can be used in higher temperature systems. The new compounds are effective at very low concentration.