Effect of ionic liquid as corrosion inhibitor for 6061 aluminium alloy-(electrochemical and quantum chemical approaches)

ABSTRACT Ionic liquid 1,3-dimethylimidazolium dimethyl phosphate (DIDP) is used as a possible green inhibitor for the corrosion control of 6061 aluminium alloy in 0.25 mol/L HCl is described in the study. Study involved electrochemical methods carried out at various temperatures by changing the concentrations of DIDP. Kinetic and thermodynamic parameters were determined using the Arrhenius rate law and transition state equations, respectively. Physisorption of the inhibitor takes place and the adsorption follows Freundlich isotherm. Surface morphology was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX) techniques. Quantum chemical studies were done by the density functional theory (DFT). The maximum inhibition efficiency of DIDP on 6061 aluminium alloy was about 78% for the concentration of 1000 ppm at 303 K. The mechanistic aspects of DIDP adsorption onto the metal surface were supported by quantum chemical studies. HOMO and LUMO of the optimized structure and quantum chemical descriptors confirmed the adsorption of the inhibitor on the metal surface. Mulliken charge population was used to identify the DIDP molecule’s high electron density region, and Fukui indices confirmed the interaction between metal and inhibitor. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT