Effects of Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide on the Corrosion Inhibition of a Lead-free α-Brass by Sodium Gluconate in Sulfuric Acid

The inhibition performance of sodium gluconate (SG), cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and their mixture (SG/CTAB) on the corrosion behavior of ${\alpha}$-brass in 0.5 M $H_2SO_4$ solution has been investigated by potentiodynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), Scanning Electron Microscope with Energy-Dispersive Spectrometer (SEM-EDS), Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectrometry (ICPS) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation techniques. The results reveal that SG with 5ppm CTAB, noted SG/CTAB, acts as a good corrosion inhibitor and its inhibition efficiency reached 89% after 24 h immersion in sulfuric acid solution, but slightly decreased at higher temperatures. The polarization curves displayed that SG/CTAB acts as a cathodic-kind inhibitor. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) studies revealed that the addition of 5ppm CTAB to different concentrations of SG considerably increases the corrosion resistance of ${\alpha}$-brass. The SEM-EDS and ICPS analyses support the experimental results. Further, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were used to understand the adsorption profiles of SG/CTAB on Cu(111) and Zn(111) surfaces.