For a variety of
applications, the brass
alloy has been utilized to replace titanium tubes in heat exchangers.
Copper alloys’ high corrosion rate during the acid cleaning
procedure remains a significant concern. To inhibit the corrosion
of brass alloys, we prepared two novel gemini surfactants (GSs),
N
1
,
N
3
-dibenzyl-
N
1
,
N
1
,
N
3
,
N
3
-tetramethylpropane-1,3-diaminium
tetrafluoroborate (I H) and
N
1
,
N
1
,
N
3
,
N
3
-tetramethyl-
N
1
,
N
3
-bis (4-methyl benzyl) propane-1,3-diaminium tetrafluoroborate
(I Me), and they were characterized using Fourier transform infrared
spectroscopy and
1
H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
Their inhibition performance against corrosion of brass alloys in
1 M HCl was studied using electrochemical techniques including potentiodynamic
polarization (PP), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and electrochemical
frequency modulation. The inhibition effect of the synthesized compounds
was high, and it increased as the inhibitor’s concentration
was increased. The maximum level of inhibition efficiency was achieved
at an inhibitor concentration of 100 ppm, reaching 96.42% according
to PP measurements. From Langmuir data, the mechanisms of adsorption
of the two GSs on the surface of copper was found to be physisorption
and chemisorption adsorption. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and
scanning electron microscopy show that the addition of the two compounds
lowers the dissolution of brass ions in the corrosive solution and
forms a protective layer on the surface of the brass.