Investigation of Corrosion Resistance of Polystyrene as an Inhibitor in Hydrochloric and Tetra-oxo Sulphate VI Acids

摘要

This work investigated the effect of polystyrene on the corrosive behaviour of hydrochloric (HCl) and tetraoxo sulphate VI (H₂SO₄) acids on mild steel using weight loss technique. Cold rolled mild steel sample with chemical composition C: 0.21%, Mn: 0.593%, Si: 0.044, S: 0.032% and Fe: 98.4% was used. Five different concentrations of the polystyrene were used in 200ml solution of the acids. The corosion rate and inhibition efficiencies of polystyrene as a corrosion inhibitor were determined at different concentrations in HCl and H₂SO₄ as it was varied from 1 ml to 5 ml. It was observed that corrosion of the mild steel reduced as the concentration of polystyrene increased but decreased with increase in time. From the work also, one can deduce that polystyrene is a good inhibitor going by its efficiencies in HCl and H₂SO₄ with up to about 90% efficiency for HCl and 84% efficiency for H₂SO₄. It was therefore concluded that introduction of polystyrene into acidic medium where mild steel is used can be an economic way of corrosion prevention.