A Mannich-base imidazoline quaternary ammonium salt for corrosion inhibition of mild steel in HCl solution

The inhibition performance of a novel Mannich base-type imidazoline quaternary salt, namely [N, N-bis(propiophenone), N(-1-polyethyleneployamine-2-stearic-imidazole)] benzyl ammonium chloride (PPLC) for mild steel in 0.5 M HCl was investigated. The experimental results show that PPLC is an excellent corrosion inhibitor, which can retard both the anodic and cathodic reactions through strong chemisorption on the surface. The theoretical results from DFT and MD simulations imply that the active site of PPLC was concentrated on the imidazole ring, carbonyl group and benzene ring, and the PPLC could spontaneously adsorb on the surface of metal in a manner parallel.