Aniline trimer-including carboxymethylated β-cyclodextrin as an efficient corrosion inhibitor for Q235 carbon steel in 1 M HCl solution

In this work, a water-soluble host–guest complex containing carboxymethylated beta-cyclodextrin (CM-β-CD) and an aniline trimer (AT) was synthesized. The application of AT–CM-β-CD as an inhibitor for alleviating the corrosion of Q235 carbon steel in 1 M HCl solution was investigated by potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Results showed that the inhibition efficiency was significantly increased in the presence of AT–CM-β-CD, and the inhibition efficiency was up to 99.2% when the concentration of AT–CM-β-CD was 250 mg L−1. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) confirmed that the corrosion inhibitor had excellent corrosion inhibition effects due to the formation of an adsorption film on the surface of Q235 carbon steel. According to the data extracted from the Langmuir adsorption model, AT–CM-β-CD absorption involves both physisorption and chemisorption.