THE EFFECT OF ENVIRONMENTALLY BENIGN FRUIT EXTRACT OF SHAHJAN (MORINGA OLEIFERA) ON THE CORROSION OF MILD STEEL IN HYDROCHLORIC ACID SOLUTION

Abstract

The inhibition of the corrosion of mild steel in hydrochloric acid solution by the fruit extract of shahjan (Moringa oleifera) was studied using weight loss, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), linear polarization, and potentiodynamic polarization techniques (Tafel). Inhibition was found to increase with increasing concentration of the extract. The effect of temperature, immersion time, and acid concentration on the corrosion behavior of mild steel in hydrochloric acid solutions with addition of extract was also studied. The inhibition occurred via adsorption of the inhibitor molecules on the mild steel surface obeying the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. Thermodynamic activation parameters such as activation energy, enthalpy (ΔH*), and entropy (ΔS*) of activation for corrosion process were calculated and discussed. The results obtained show that both chemical and physical adsorption of inhibitor molecules occur simultaneously and the fruit extract of shahjan (Moringa oleifera) could serve as an effective inhibitor of the corrosion of mild steel in hydrochloric acid media.