The radical scavenging effects and anticorrosive properties of polyphenols (gallic acid [GA] and two gallotannins) that contained ortho-trihydroxyl aromatic rings but different numbers of GA moieties and different molecular masses were studied. Scavenging of the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) by the polyphenols was studied by electron spin resonance (ESR). The ESR spectra of the reaction products of the polyphenols and hydrated ferric sulfate (Fe2[SO4]3·nH2O) were recorded. The anticorrosive properties of the polyphenols were studied by gravimetric and linear polarization measurements. X-ray analysis and mercury porosimetry were used to investigate the rust and its phase components converted by the polyphenols. An increase in the molecular mass (and the number of GA moieties) was found to increase the ability of the polyphenols to scavenge DPPH radicals and to convert the rust. Thus, evaluation of the scavenging effect was shown effective as a fast method to estimate and predict the usefulness of various polyphenols for anticorrosive applications.

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