The aim of this review is to summarise the research work published in the last two decades on the use of organic compounds as corrosion inhibitors for aluminium and its alloys in acidic solutions. The focus is on HCl and H 2 SO 4 solutions due to their extensive use in different applications, such as chemical and electrochemical etching, acid cleaning, anodising, and acid pickling of aluminium. Other acids are also reviewed. The inhibition effectiveness of numerous organic compounds and their possible inhibition type and mechanism are also discussed. Electrochemistry is mainly used to investigate inhibitor performance. permanent contact of aluminium (or an alloy of aluminium) with a certain solution. This type of corrosion is especially frequent in chloride solutions.
Corrosion protectionThere are several methods to protect aluminium and its alloys, among which the anodising process, conversion coatings, paints, organic coatings, and corrosion inhibitors are found to be the most effective.Anodising is an electrochemical process to increase the thickness of aluminium oxide, where aluminium metallic material is connected as an anode in the electrolytic cell. The anodised oxide layer is thus thicker (5-30 μm) than the natural oxide layer 2, 3, 10, 13, 14 .Conversion coating consist of poorly soluble phosphate or chromium oxides, which are tightly bound to the surface of aluminium or its alloys 15-17 . These coatings affect the appearance, corrosion potential, electrical resistance, and other surface properties. Conversion coatings are formed via a chemical oxidation-reduction process on the metal surface. However, the drawback of these coatings and the accompanying procedures is their negative environmental impact 2 . Therefore, in recent years increasing interest has been shown in conversion coatings containing cerium 18-23 and metallic ions 24-28 or their combination 29, 30 .As mentioned above, another method of corrosion protection is to employ organic coatings. Before applying the organic coating, the aluminium surface should be cleaned and prepared. The process consists of degreasing the surface, followed by removal of the existing oxide layer and the application of the base layer and the primer. The surface cleaning and treatment influences the adhesion and anticorrosion properties of these coatings 31, 32 . The final layer is selected depending on the environmental conditions in which the product will be used [33][34][35][36] . The use of organic-inorganic coatings in the protection of aluminium and its alloys has been also studied 37-39 .
Corrosion inhibitorsCorrosion inhibitors modify the metal surface either by forming insoluble compounds with aluminium or by forming a protective surface layer. Based on the electrochemical mechanism of action, the inhibitors can be classified as mixed-type inhibitors (inhibiting both cathodic and anodic reactions of the corrosion couple), anodic-type inhibitors (inhibiting the anodic reaction), or cathodic-type inhibitors (inhibiting the cathodic reaction). Inhibitors may ...