Behaviour of Mucuna Flagellepes Leaves Extract in Corrosion Prevention Using Electrochemical Measurement

Abstract

The potential application of naturally occurring materials as corrosion inhibitors is intriguing due to their affordability and environmental acceptability. This study uses electrochemical measurement to examine the inhibitory efficacy of Mucuna flagellepes leaf ethanol extract on the mild steel in an acidic medium. While the effect of pH and temperature variation of the acidic medium was investigated at a fixed concentration of the extract (10g/L), electrochemical measurement was performed using polarization cells of one litter capacity at varying concentrations of the extract between 2 and 10g/L. Based on concentration variation results, Mucuna flagellepes leaf extract would be able to prevent mild steel from corroding in acidic medium. As the extract concentration increased, the density of corrosion current (Icor) decreased; the inhibitor solution containing 10 g/L showed the lowest Icor value, with a maximum inhibition value of 74.50%. The results of varying the acidic medium's pH and temperature at a fixed concentration of the extract showed that, the mild steel's rate of corrosion increases with rising temperatures and falls with rising acidic solution pH respectively.