Abstract
This research investigated the corrosion inhibition and corrosion rates of copper alloys in sulphuric acid by benzotriazole (BTAH) and surfactants. Three types of surfactants namely sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), cetyle trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) and X-Triton were used in the given research work. From the results, it was noticed that the rate of corrosion of copper decreased with an increase in concentration of inhibitor. Excellent results on corrosion inhibition of the copper alloys, in the tested acids, were achieved in the presence of benzotriazole and surfactants. It was observed that benzotriazole and surfactants inhibit the corrosion of copper significantly. The highest corrosion inhibition was materialized in post micellar concentration (PMC) of Triton X-100 and CTAB with 0.75 ppm benzotriazole in 1.5 M H2SO4. The maximum corrosion inhabitation achieved with Triton X-100 and CTAB was 5.41 and 5.44 mpy, respectively. Finally, the Linear Polarization Resistance (LPR) was used to investiage the corrosion resistance of optimized concentrations of surfactants and BTAH. The LPR results revealed that Triton X-100 causes significantly higher corrosion inhibition performance as compared to CTAB.