A review of the application of ionic liquids as eco-friendly corrosion inhibitors for steel, aluminum, copper and magnesium alloys

This review examines the corrosion inhibition performance of ionic liquids used as corrosion inhibitors for aluminum, copper, magnesium, steel, and their alloys in various aqueous media. The predominant classes of ionic liquids employed are imidazolium, triazolium, thiazolium, phosphonium, pyridinium, ammonium, pyrrolidinium, and pyridinium-based ionic liquids. The pieces of literature revealed that the studies were carried out in acid, base, and salt media and an array of inhibition efficiencies was obtained. Herein, the possible influence of experimental techniques, ionic liquid concentration, ionic liquid structure, and molecular weight on the inhibition efficiency are tabulated and discussed.