An Up-to-Date Review on Industrially Significant Inhibitors for Corrosion Control of Zinc

Abstract

Zinc, an important nonferrous metal, is the fourth most used metal in the world. It has innumerable uses in industrial as well as in other segments. The primary utility of zinc is in galvanization and as an anode in the battery. Steel coated with zinc, which is known as galvanized steel, is widely used in industries. Even though zinc protects many metals from undergoing corrosion, by itself, it undergoes corrosion in several acidic, alkaline, and neutral environments. The corrosion behavior of zinc is significant in all industries where it is utilized either directly or indirectly in the form of a sacrificial coating. In-depth analysis of the reported literature indicated that corrosion attenuation of zinc in acidic and alkaline medium was studied by many researchers, and various classes of inhibitors were tried under varying experimental conditions. Most inhibitors can be amalgamated as excellent inhibitors with an inhibition efficiency of 80–90%. Even though this is a subject of intense research, systematic documentation on the same is not available in the literature. This review consolidates research work on corrosion and inhibition studies of zinc and galvanized steel over a period of three decades.