SURFACE-ENHANCED RAMAN-SCATTERING AND CYCLIC VOLTAMMETRY STUDIES OF SYNERGETIC EFFECTS IN THE CORROSION INHIBITION OF COPPER BY POLYBENZIMIDAZOLE AND MERCAPTOBENZIMIDAZOLE AT HIGH-TEMPERATURE

The inhibition of copper corrosion by polybenzimidazole and mercaptobe nzimidazole at room and high temperature was assessed by in situ surfa ce-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). It wa s found that a very compact protective layer, produced by immersion in polybenzimidazole and mercaptobenzimidazole mixture solutions, showed better anticorrosive performance than each single inhibitor component even at high temperatures. This synergetic effect of the two componen ts was explained by the physico-chemical mechanism of corrosion inhibi tion of polymeric coatings. Meanwhile, the results implied that the SE RS active substrate prepared by the HNO3 etching method was particular ly useful for in situ characterization of many problems in high-temper ature surface chemistry which otherwise could not be accomplished by t he usual SERS active substrates.