Insight into the corrosion inhibition of Biebersteinia multifida root extract for carbon steel in acidic medium.

In this project, the protective effect of Biebersteinia multifida root extract (BMRE) against corrosion of 1018 low carbon steel (1018LCS) in HCl solutions was appraised by assessing weight loss, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and polarization at 25 °C. The maximum inhibitory efficacy for the concentration of 1 g/l of the BMRE was 92.8% at 25 °C after 2 h and increased to 95.3% after 24 h of immersion. Polarization experiments have shown that the extract in acidic solutions can act as a mixed corrosion inhibitor. The corrosion inhibitory efficacy of BMRE decreased with increasing temperature, and at all temperature settings studied, the adsorption of BMRE molecules on 1018 LCS was consistent with the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis confirmed the protection of 1018 LCS in the acidic solution containing BMRE extract. Quantum chemistry studies of four main constituents of the extract called vasicinone, umbelliferon, scopoletin, and ferulic acid were performed by density functional theory, DFT, in neutral and protonated states. Calculated quantum parameters were used to investigate the active sites and donor-receptor interactions of molecules.