A new corrosion inhibition model for surfactants that more closely accounts for actual adsorption than traditional models that assume physical coverage is proportional to inhibition

Many corrosion inhibition researchers utilize the assumption that inhibitor coverage is proportional to corrosion inhibition as a tool to evaluate their inhibition data. Although this assumption is very useful, it is inconsistent with observed surfactant adsorption data. Corrosion and adsorption data indicate that corrosion inhibition by surfactants is not directly proportional to surfactant coverage. This paper discusses the discrepancy between physical and effective coverage and provides an alternative relationship between coverage and inhibition that is more consistent with observed surfactant adsorption than the traditional relationship, which for most researchers means that physical coverage is proportional to corrosion inhibition. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.