INTRODUCTION Polymer clay composites which consists of clay particles dispersed in a polymer matrix have been prepared for different applications 1-2 . Clay fillers are widely used in polymers to produce cost effective, strong and energy efficient materials. Bentonite are clays rich in smectites – group of clay minerals able to expand and contract their structure while maintaining the two ORIENTAL JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY www.orientjchem.org An International Open Free Access, Peer Reviewed Research Journal ISSN: 0970-020 X CODEN: OJCHEG 2015, Vol. 31, No. (3): Pg. 1811-1821 Polyester-bentonite Clay Composite: Synthesis, Characterization and Application as Anticorrosive Agent KIRUTHIKA AYYASAMY*, SOUNTHARI PALANISAMY, PARAMESWARI KANDASAMY and SUBRAMANIAN CHITRA Department of Chemistry, PSGR Krishnammal College for women, Coimbatore-641 004, India *Corresponding author E mail: kiruthikadreams@gmail.com http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/ojc/310364 (Received: April 10, 2015; Accepted: June 13, 2015) ABSTRACT New polyester-bentonite clay composite was prepared and characterized by FTIR, TGA, SEM& XRD. The XRD and SEM studies are quite supportive of well dispersed polymer clay composite formation. The thermal stability of the polymer was significantly improved as indicated by TGA. The composite was evaluated for its inhibition performance for mild steel corrosion in 1M H 2 SO 4 by weight loss, polarization and electrochemical impedance techniques. The studies reveal that the clay composite was an excellent adsorption type inhibitor and obeys Langmuir adsorption isotherm. Electrochemical studies showed that the polymer composite was a mixed inhibitor retarding both anodic metal dissolution and cathodic hydrogen evolution. Key words: Polymer, clay composite, Corrosion inhibition, EIS, isotherm, SEM dimensional crystallographic integrity. Bentonite clay has montmorrilonite (MMT) as its main component. Along with MMT, it contains other clays and chemicals like illite, kaolinite, quartz and carbonates. These clays are biocompatible green materials, simple processing combined with low cost make it a prospective for nano architectural polymeric composites. The swelling clays belonging to 2 : 1 layered clays are commonly used for the