Protection of self-assembled monolayers formed from triethyl phosphate and mixed self-assembled monolayers from triethyl phosphate and cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide for copper against corrosion

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of triethyl phosphate (TEP) and the mixed SAMs of TEP with cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) were prepared on copper surfaces. The protection abilities of these films against copper corrosion in 0.2 M NaCl aqueous solution were investigated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and polarization techniques. Results showed that the inhibition efficiency (IE) increased with an increase in the immersion time of copper in the TEP-containing solutions. When the TEP films were modified with CTAB, the ability of the corrosion inhibition of the mixed films improved markedly. Furthermore, the influence of an extemal magnetic field on the formation of SAMs was studied. Ab initio calculations were performed to provide some theoretical studies for our experiment. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.