A comparative study of 5-amino-1,2,4-triazole (5-ATA), 5-amino-3-mercapto-1,2,4-triazole (5-AMT), 5-amino-3-methylthio-1,2,4-triazole (5AMeTT) and 1-amino-3-methylthio-1,2,4-triazole (1-AMeTT) as inhibitors for mild steel corrosion in 0.1 M HCl solution at 20 C was carried out. Potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques were applied to study the metal corrosion behaviour in the absence and presence of different concentrations of these inhibitors under the influence of various experimental conditions. Measurements of open circuit potential (OCP) as a function of time till reaching the steady-state potentials (E-st) were also established. The studies have shown that 5-AMT was the most efficient inhibitor reaching values of inhibition efficiency (IE%) up to 96% at a concentration of 10(-3) M. Polarization curves showed that the four studied compounds act as mixed inhibitors. The potential of zero charge (PZC) of mild steel was determined in 0.1 M HCl in the absence and presence of the studied inhibitors. The effect of chemical structure of the four tested inhibitors was discussed. Results obtained from OCP versus time, polarization and impedance measurements are in good agreement. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.