Electrochemical corrosion resistance and inhibition behaviour of martensitic stainless steel in hydrochloric acid

Corrosion resistance behaviour of 12Cr martensitic stainless steel was evaluated in different hydrochloric acid and the acid chloride concentrations. Corrosion inhibition of the tested samples in 1M HCl was also evaluated using potassium dichromate. The experiments were performed at ambient temperature using potentiodynamic polarization measurement. This paper reports the observed electrochemical response of the experimental tests. Different concentrations of the test media were used with sodium chloride addition. Tafel and polarization resistance techniques were used to estimate the corrosion rate, the polarisation resistance and inhibition of the alloy samples tested. The results obtained showed some magnitude of corrosion susceptibility for the stainless steel at higher HCl concentrations and also in the acid chloride test media. Effective corrosion inhibition was also exhibited on the tested sample