The corrosion inhibitive performance of an environmentally friendly water-base acrylic terpolymer [methyl methacrylate/Butyl Acrylate/Acrylic acid (ATP)] on mild steel in 1 M HCl was investigated by alternating current and direct current electrochemical techniques and the quantum chemical method. An efficiency of more than 97 pct was obtained with 0.8 mmol/L ATP. The increase in inhibitor concentration and immersion time has a positive effect, while the temperature influence is negligible on the inhibitor efficiency. The present terpolymer obeys the Langmuir isotherm, and thermodynamic calculation reveals a chemisorption type on the surface. Density functional calculations showed that the lone pairs of electrons of oxygen in the structure of three monomers are suitable sites to adsorb onto the metal surface. Finally, in the presence of ATP, a decrease in surface roughness and corrosion attacks was demonstrated by atomic force microscopy and optical microscopy examinations, respectively.

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