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In many engineering scenarios, surface-active organic species are added to acidic solutions to inhibit the corrosion of metallic components. Given suitable selection, such corrosion inhibitors are highly effective, preventing significant...

An approach for acquiring more reliable X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data from corrosion inhibitor/metal interfaces is described. More specifically, the focus is on metallic substrates immersed in acidic solutions containing organic corrosion inhibitors, as these systems can be particularly sensitive to oxidation following removal from solution. To minimize the likelihood of such degradation, samples are removed from solution within a glove box purged with inert gas, either N2 or Ar. The glove box is directly attached to the load-lock of the ultra-high vacuum X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy instrument, avoiding any exposure to the ambient laboratory atmosphere, and thus reducing the possibility of post immersion substrate oxidation. On this basis, one can be more certain that the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy features observed are likely to be representative of the in situ submerged scenario, e.g. the oxidation state of the metal is not modified.

An optimized one‐pot recipe has been developed to synthesize a surfactant molecule, referred to as OMID, consisting of an imidazoline head group and aliphatic tail, which is an exemplar corrosion inhibitor for carbon steel in acidic solutions. As evidenced by gas chromatography, 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance, and Fourier‐transform infrared data, a high‐purity product was achieved without the use of either a solvent or catalyst. Critical micelle concentration values and corrosion inhibition efficiencies ( η%) were determined in aqueous solutions of hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid using surface tensiometry and linear polarization resistance measurements, respectively. Hydrolysis of the imidazoline head group as a function of pH (0–11) was explored with ultraviolet–visible absorption spectroscopy. In addition, N 1s and C 1s X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy data were acquired from both surface‐adsorbed OMID and a multilayer of the imidazoline head group of OMID. These latter data are highly relevant to those attempting to understand OMID inhibition chemistry.

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