Self-assembled monolayers of stearic imidazoline on copper electrodes detected using electrochemical measurements, XPS, molecular simulation and FTIR

A type of imidazoline inhibitor was synthesized using stearic acid and diethylenetriamine (DETA) as raw materials. Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of stearic imidazoline (IM) were prepared on copper surface. The copper electrode modified by IM was detected by electrochemical impedance spectros-copy (EIS), Tafel polarization curves, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourial transform reflection spectroscopy (FTIR). The biggest inhibition efficiency for copper corrosion of IM was 99% in NaCl solution according to EIS results. The XPS results provided evidence that the IM was adsorbed on copper surface. The theoretical calculations of molecular simulation supported the experimental results and showed that the IM molecules were tilted at an angle to the copper surface.