The protective effect in the atmosphere from the vapors of volatile corrosion inhibitors (VCIs) can last for a long time, but when an item is removed from the vapor atmosphere, the destruction of the barrier layer proceeds, what connected with VCI desorption from the surface. Evidently a prolonged preservation of protective film is capable of giving some
advantages for VCI use. This brings up another point: what the way the time of the post-treatment effect of an VCI depends on the chemical structure of organic inhibitor. In this connection some feasible ways for increase in irreversibility of the VCI adsorption are discussed and examples of the post-treatment effect are demonstrated.
Keywords: adsorption, chemisorbed layer, corrosion inhibitor, desorption, irreversibility of adsorption, physical adsorption, post-treatment effect, volatile corrosion inhibitor.