Inhibition of Copper Corrosion by self Assembled Amphiphiles

The advantage of nanolayers that can replace the traditional inhibitors of solids is the significant decrease in chemicals. The consequence is a lower environmental pollution. On a copper surface, special hydroxamic acid amphiphiles (CnH2n+1CONHOH, n = 9–17) were used in self-assembled molecular layers (SAM). The impact of time in SAM formation as well as the carbon chain length in the amphiphilic molecules was in the focus of the experiments. The time-dependent layer structure was characterized by sum frequency vibrational spectroscopy. The anti-corrosion efficiency of nanolayers was measured by different electrochemical techniques (electrode impedance spectroscopy, polarization) and by micro-calorimeter. The comparative analysis of data proved that the increase in time of SAM formation up to 1 hour enhances the stability, the ordering as well as the efficiency of nanolayers. The length of the carbon chain in the SAM layer, less significantly increases the anticorrosion efficiency in a corrosive environment than the layer thickness in LB films.