ELECTROCHEMICAL, DFT AND MULTISCALE SIMULATION STUDIES ON SELF-ASSEMBLED FILMS OF 2-AMINO-4-METHYL-PYRIDINE INHIBITOR FOR COPPER METAL CORROSION PROTECTION IN 3.5% NaCl MEDIUM

Copper metal and its alloys are the most used in the industries because it holds excellent conductivity and natural corrosion protectiveness against air/moisture. However, copper undergoes degradation in presence of aggressive 3.5% NaCl. Protective coating is one of the practical methods to safeguard copper metal. In this study, 2-amino-4-methyl-pyridine (AMP) was coated as self-assembled monolayer method (SAM) with different immersion periods (12 h/24 h) and investigated the corrosion potential against 3.5% NaCl medium. Chemical composition of AMP/SAM/Cu was characterized using Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and morphological analysis using atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques. AMP’s corrosion inhibition potential were evaluated via electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and potentiodynamic polarization (PDS) analyses. Quantum chemical calculations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations explained the stronger adsorption of AMP over copper metal surface via self-assembly method. The corrosion analysis revealed that AMP’s SAM formation (24 h immersion) enhances the corrosion protection of Cu metal, which is mainly due to the uniform thin adhesive compact layer formation and blocks incoming corrosive chloride ions. EIS investigation evident that AMP forms an adhesive layer over the copper surface and prevents the diffusion of aggressive corrosive medium, while PP studies revealed that AMP acts via the mixed mode of corrosion inhibition mechanism. AMP’s significant inhibition efficiency 90% was confirmed via PP analysis. AFM analysis enabled the morphology image of AMP’s shielding over Cu surface and the molecular modeling investigation supported well for the Cu–N (from AMP) bond formation.