The aim of this study was to evaluate the corrosion inhibition efficiency of steel samples in different environments before and after the treatment with rust metamorphose (RM), which is formulated in this research study and shows excellent adherence over the rusted surface of substrate because of the presence of the P-O-Fe bond.
An RM solution (phosphorylated polyphenol) was synthesised and characterised using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and then the degree of protection offered by it to steel surfaces with and without the treatment with the RM solution in different atmospheres was evaluated;. Before and after treating with the RM solution, the corroded steel samples were characterised using X-ray diffraction (XRD), FT-IR, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The study of the passive behaviours of the corroded steel samples and RM-treated steel samples was done in different simulated atmospheres.
This RM solution is phosphorylated polyphenol solution (proved by FT-IR), which acts as a corrosion inhibitor on corroded steel surfaces because of the formation of a passive and symmetric adherent layer of phosphorylated polyphenol–iron complex (confirmed by FT-IR, XRD, EDS, SEM and adhesion X test). The significant improvement in corrosion resistance in splash conditions of 3.5 per cent NaCl, tap water and 1.5 per cent Na2SO4 was found with the treatment of phosphorylated polyphenol-based RM.
The development of RM and its characterisation with performance evaluation in different atmospheres is a novel approach in this research.
