The inhibitive effect of hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) on mild steel corrosion in aerated 0.5M H2SO4 solution was studied using gravimetric and electrochemical techniques. The effect of temperature on corrosion and inhibition was also investigated. The results show that hydroxyethyl cellulose functioned as a good inhibitor in the studied environment and inhibition efficiency increased with concentration of inhibitor. Potentiodynamic polarization measurements revealed that HEC inhibited both the cathodic and anodic partial reactions of the corrosion processes. Impedance results clearly show that HEC inhibited the corrosion reaction by adsorption onto the metal/solution interface by significantly decreasing the double layer capacitance (C-dl). This result was greatly pronounced in the presence of the inhibitor system (HEC+KI) that contains halide additive. Temperature studies revealed an increase in inhibition efficiency with rise in temperature. The adsorption behavior was found to obey the Freundlich isotherm. The values of activation energy, heat of adsorption, and standard free energy suggest that there was transition from physical to chemical adsorption mechanism of HEC on the mild steel surface. Quantum chemical calculations using the density functional theory (DFT) was employed to determine the relationship between molecular structure and inhibition efficiency.