Adsorption and inhibition of rosin thiourea imidazole quaternary ammonium salt on steel surface in HCl solution

Rosin thiourea imidazole quaternary ammonium salt (RTIQAs) was synthesized by connecting rosin and imidazole units via thiourea linker, and its inhibitive action on the corrosion of CRS (cold rolled steel) in 1.0 M HCl solution was fully investigated. The results demonstrate that RTIQAs is an efficient mixed-type inhibitor with the maximum inhibition efficiency of 95%. The adsorption rule on the CRS surface fully complies with Langmuir isotherm. The efficient inhibition of RTIQAs can also be verified by AFM, SEM and CLSM (confocal laser scanning microscope). The direct adsorption proof of RTIQAs molecules on steel surface can be further presented in EDX and XPS.