Preparation of crosslinked amphiphilic silver nanogel as thin film corrosion protective layer for steel.

Monodisperse silver nanoparticles were synthesized by a new developed method via reaction of AgNO3 and oleic acid with the addition of a trace amount of Fe3+ ions. Emulsion polymerization at room temperature was employed to prepare a core-shell silver nanoparticle with controllable particle size. N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) and potassium peroxydisulfate (KPS) were used as a crosslinker, and as redox initiator system, respectively for crosslinking polymerization. The structure and morphology of the silver nanogels were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission and scanning electron microscopy (TEM and SEM). The effectiveness of the synthesized compounds as corrosion inhibitors for steel in 1 M HCl was investigated by various electrochemical techniques such as potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Monolayers of silver nanoparticle were self-assembled on the fresh active surface of the steel electrode and have been tested as a corrosion inhibitor for steel in 1 M HCl solution. The results of polarization measurements showed that nanogel particles act as a mixed type inhibitor.