Mannich Base as an Efficient Corrosion Inhibitor of AA6061 in 0.5 M HCl: Electrochemical, Surface Morphological and Theoretical Investigations

The inhibition action of a Mannich base, N-(1- morpholinobenzyl) semicarbazide (MBS), was examined on AA6061 corrosion in 0.5 M HCl solution at varied temperatures (303 to 323 K). The testing was performed by potentiodynamic polarization (PDP) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques. The inhibition performance of MBS was improved with an increment in its concentration (0.01–2.56 mM) and temperature rise (303 to 323 K). MBS showed a mixed inhibitor behavior at all concentrations and temperatures range studied. MBS displayed the highest inhibition efficiency of 98% at 2.56 mM and 323 K. Inhibitor followed mixed adsorption on the alloy surface and obeyed the Langmuir isotherm model. The results obtained from the EIS were in good agreement with that of the PDP results. An appropriate mechanism was proposed for the corrosion inhibition of AA6061. Inhibitor molecules adsorption on alloy surface was confirmed by surface morphology testing by a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM). Theoretical studies using density-functional theory (DFT) confirmed the experimental results.