The effect of corrosion inhibitors on stainless steels and aluminium alloys: A review

This paper summarizes the effect of inhibitors on the corrosion of stainless steels and aluminium alloys in different media. Stainless steels and aluminium alloys have a wide range of applications in construction, transport, domestic appliances, medical, and energy related fields. The exposure of stainless steels and aluminium alloys to corroding environments however, results in the degradation of the materials. Inhibitors are used to mitigate the corrosion of these alloys in various corrosive media and enhance their durability. Corrosion inhibitors can either be anodic inhibitors, cathodic inhibitors, mixed inhibitors, or volatile corrosion inhibitors. This review showed that inhibition efficiency increases with increase in inhibitor concentration irrespective of alloy tested. However, adsorption of inhibitors on the alloys’ surface depends on the alloy type. Adsorption of inhibitors on the surface of stainless steels obeyed Langmuir adsorption isotherms, while those of aluminium alloys obeyed Langmuir, Temkin, Flory-Huggins and Freundlich isotherms. This study is important for different industrial fields where stainless steels and aluminium alloys are utilized. Key words: Aluminium, corrosion, corrosive media, inhibitor, stainless steels.