In this report, two
chromotrope dyes, chromotropic acid (CA) and
chromotrope 2R (CR), were explored as inhibitors against mild steel
corrosion in 1.0 M sulfuric acid solutions at 303 K. Electrochemical,
spectroscopic, chemical, and microscopic techniques, namely, potentiodynamic
polarization (PDP), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, mass loss,
and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), have been employed to evaluate
the inhibition efficiencies (%IEs) of the examined organic dyes. The
%IEs were found to increase with the inhibitors’ concentrations,
while they decreased with rising temperature. The outcomes of the
PDP technique displayed that the examined inhibitors operated as mixed-type
inhibitors with anodic prevalence. The impedance spectra described
by Nyquist and Bode graphs in the corrosive environment and in the
presence of various concentrations of the examined inhibitors showed
single depressed capacitive loops and one-time constants. This behavior
signified that the mild steel corrosion was managed by the charge
transfer process. The SEM micrographs of the surfaces of mild steel
samples after adding the examined inhibitors revealed a wide coverage
of these compounds on the steel surfaces. Thus, the acquired high
%IEs of the examined inhibitors were interpreted by strong adsorption
of the organic molecules on the mild steel surface. This constructed
a shielding layer separating the alloy surface from the corrosive
medium, and such adsorption was found to follow the Langmuir isotherm.
Furthermore, the evaluated thermodynamic and kinetic parameters supported
that the nature of such adsorption was mainly physical. Results obtained
from all employed techniques were consistent with each other and revealed
that the %IE of the CR inhibitor was slightly higher than that of
CA under similar circumstances. Finally, the mechanisms of both corrosion
of mild steel in sulfuric acid solutions and its inhibition by the
tested organic dyes were also discussed.