Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2021) 28:40879–40894

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13567-5

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Date palm leaves extract as a green and sustainable corrosion

inhibitor for low carbon steel in 15 wt.% HCl solution: the role
of extraction solvent on inhibition effect
Saviour A. Umoren 1 & Moses M. Solomon 1 & Ime B. Obot 1 & Rami K. Suleiman 1

Received: 9 December 2020 / Accepted: 16 March 2021 / Published online: 26 March 2021
# Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2021

Abstract
Date palm leaves (DPL) was extracted using acetone (ACE), ethanol (ETH), aqueous (AE), butanol (BUT), methanol (METH),
isopropanol (ISO), and ethyl acetate (EHY ACT). The extracts were characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy
(FTIR) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy. The various solvent DPL extracts were screened for anticorrosion property
against low carbon steel in 15 wt.% HCl solution at 25 °C. ACE, AE, and ETH DPL extracts are found to promote the corrosion
of the low carbon steel while BUT, ISO, METH, and EHY ACT DPL extracts exhibit anticorrosion property. However, BUT
DPL extract shows the best anticorrosion property with 400 ppm protecting the low carbon steel by 82%. Based on the results
from the screening experiments, BUT extract was selected for a comprehensive corrosion inhibition study. Inhibition effective-
ness of BUT DPL extract is found to increase with increasing concentration with 1000 ppm affording 97% protection at 25 °C.
The inhibition performance increases up to 40 °C but slightly decreases as the temperature was raised to 50 °C and 60 °C.
However, BUT DPL extract could afford 86% protection at 60 °C. Scanning electron microscope and atomic force spectroscopy
results confirm that BUT DPL extract is indeed an effective inhibitor for X60 carbon steel in 15 wt.% HCl solution.

Keywords Date palm . Extraction solvent . Acidizing . Corrosion inhibition . Corrosion . Carbon steel

Introduction containing acetylenic alcohols, alkenyl phenones, aromatic alde-

The API 5L X60 carbon steel, henceforth referred to as X60
carbon steel, is an inexpensive grade of low carbon steel
manufactured for used in applications such as gas, water, and oil
transportation pipelines (Steel 2020). Generally, carbon steels are
susceptible to corrosion especially in chloride-rich environments
(Brezinski and Desai 1997; Solomon et al. 2019a; Funkhouser
et al. 2001). One of the economical corrosion mitigation tech-
niques is the use of corrosion inhibitors (Blair et al. 1949;
Quinlan 1980; Brondel et al. 1994; Zhang et al. 2018; Toyofuku
and Yoon 2018; Cao et al. 2019; Jiawei et al. 2020). For oil well
acidizing, the current corrosion inhibitors are formulations
Responsible Editor: Santiago V. Luis
* Saviour A. Umoren
umoren@kfupm.edu.sa
1 Krishnegowda et al. 2013; El Bribri et al. 2013; Shalabi et al.
Centre of Research Excellence in Corrosion, Research Institute, King
Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi
Arabia
hydes, nitrogen-containing heterocyclics, quaternary salts, and
condensation products of carbonyls and amines as the main active
(Brezinski and Desai 1997; Wayne and Frenier 2000; Funkhouser
et al. 2001). Although the effectiveness of these inhibitor formu-
lations is not in doubt, the high toxicity level of some of them has
become a thing of serious concern (Singh et al. 1996). In addition,
the high cost of some of the organic-based corrosion inhibitors is
also worrisome.
As the world aims to phase out toxic chemicals by 2030
(Lerner 2019), research activities on plant components for
possible deployment as green and sustainable raw materials
for the development of effective metals corrosion inhibitors
are on the increase (Chen et al. 2013; Krishnegowda et al.
2013; El Bribri et al. 2013; Shalabi et al. 2014; Nikpour
et al. 2019; Sedik et al. 2020a). This is propelled by the avail-
ability of plants, which guarantees cost-effectiveness and their
richness in organic bioactive molecules capable of interacting
with metal surfaces to form protective film (Chen et al. 2013;
2014; Nikpour et al. 2019; Sedik et al. 2020a).
Comprehensive information on plant extracts as corrosion
40880
inhibitors for different metallurgies in diverse kinds of corro-
sive media can be found in the following recent reviews:
Umoren et al. 2019, Verma et al. 2018, Marciales et al.
2018, and Valdez et al. 2018.
Hydrochloric acid (HCl) is a common industrial acid that has
gained application in metals pickling and oil wells acidizing (Obot
et al. 2020). It is preferred over the relatively inexpensive sulphuric
acid in metals pickling and acidizing due to its less pickling time,
better surface quality at low temperatures (Maanonen 2014), and
less tendency to form problematic scales like the calcium sulphate
(Obot et al. 2020). It is used in the concentration range of 2–5% for
metals pickling (Obot et al. 2020) and 15–32% for oil well
acidizing (Finšgar and Jackson 2014; Solomon et al.
2020; Singh and Quraishi 2015). In our recent review (Umoren
et al. 2019), we noted that basically all research reports on plant
extracts as metals corrosion inhibitors in HCl medium revolved
round the concentration of 0.1–2 M (Asadi et al. 2019; Ahanotu
et al. 2020; Emori et al. 2020; Ogunleye et al. 2020; Sedik et al.
2020b; Dehghani et al. 2020a, b, c), which is typical metals pick-
ling concentrations. Beyond these concentrations, i.e. acidizing
concentration range, there was seemingly no report. We hypothe-
sized that the reason for the observation may be due to the severity
of the acidizing conditions, i.e. the remarkably high acid concen-
tration and operational temperatures, which plant extracts may not
withstand. In this report, we seek to fill the identified research gap
by exploring date palm leaves extract as a potential green corrosion
inhibitor for X60 carbon steel in 15 wt.% HCl solution.
Date palm is a flowering plant that belongs to the family of
Arecaceae. It is typically grown in the Middle East (Al-
Redhaiman 2014). In Saudi Arabia, its cultivation is rapidly
expanding covering over 170,000 hectares with total number
of palms exceeding 25 million (Al-Redhaiman 2014). It there-
fore has a huge potential of becoming an important raw ma-
terial for production. Whereas the fruits have several econom-
ic uses ranging from out-of-hand consumption to processing
into edible and non-edible products (Al-Redhaiman 2014;
Nasser et al. 2016), the leaves of date palm have no known
economic use. This work seeks to convert the non-usable date
palm leaves to an economic raw material.
Extraction solvent is one factor that significantly influences
the performance of plant extracts as corrosion inhibitor. The
yield of extracted plant bioactive molecules depends on the
type of solvent used, extraction method, extraction time, and
temperature in addition to the composition and the texture of
the plant sample (Tan and Kassim 2011). Hence, to ascertain
the solvent most suited for the extraction of date palm leaves
samples for corrosion inhibitor application, different extrac-
tion solvents (acetone, ethanol, aqueous, butanol, methanol,
isopropanol, and ethyl acetate) were screened. The mass loss,
electrochemical (electrochemical impedance spectroscopy
(EIS), potentiodynamic polarization (PDP), and electrochem-
ical frequency modulation (EFM)), and surface screening
(SEM, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX), and
Environ Sci Pollut Res (2021) 28:40879–40894
AFM) techniques were adopted for anticorrosion studies.
The influence of temperature on the inhibition efficiency of
the date palm leaves extract was examined between 25 and 60
°C.
Experimental section
Leaves preparation, extraction, and characterization
The fresh date palm leaves (DPL) were harvested from King Fahd
University of Petroleum and Minerals garden and validated by Dr.
Jacob Thomas of King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A
specimen with identification number: KSU No. 22638 has been
deposited in King Saud University herbarium. The identified date
palm leaves were sliced, washed severally with distilled water, sun
dried for 2 weeks, and ground into powder.
For extraction, 10 g powdered DPL was accurately
weighed, soaked in 250 mL of the respective extraction sol-
vents (ethanol, methanol, butanol, acetone, isopropanol, and
ethyl acetate), and stirred at 300 rpm continuously at room
temperature for 72 h. For aqueous extraction, 10 g powdered
DPL was boiled in 250 mL of water under constant stirring at
300 rpm for 4 h. The mixtures were filtered using
ADVANTEC® No. 1 filter papers (90 mm size). The organic
solvent filtrates were concentrated in a rotary evaporator to a
semi-solid form, left at room temperature in fume extraction
booth overnight, and the solid extract obtained were stored at
ordinary temperature prior to use. In each case, extract in the
range of 1.3377–1.5529 g was obtained. The ethanol, metha-
nol, butanol, acetone, isopropanol, aqueous, and ethyl acetate
DPL extracts are herein abbreviated as ETH, METH, BUT,
ACE, ISO, AE, and EHY ACT, respectively.
The DPL extracts were characterized using a Fourier-
transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectrophotometer
(Nicolet iS5, Thermo Scientific model) over the range 4000
to 400 cm−1 and an ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectropho-
tometer (JASCO770-UV–Vis, Tokyo, Japan) at 200 nm to
650 nm wavelength. The UV-vis experiments were operated
at a scan rate of 200 nm.min−1 and a resolution of 1 nm. For
the FTIR experiments, the obtained solid extracts were used
without further drying. For UV-vis experiments, extract stock
solution (details of stock solution preparation are given in the
“Metal specimen composition, preparation, and corrosive me-
dium” subsection) was diluted with the respective extracting
solvents in the ratio of 1:10 to get the working sample.
Metal specimen composition, preparation, and
corrosive medium
The chemical composition of the X60 carbon steel is (wt.%) C
= 0.125, Si = 0.520, Mn = 1.830, Cr = 0.121, Cu = 0.296, W =
0.134, Ni = 0.091, Mo = 0.079, Al = 0.043, Sn = 0.081, Nb =
Environ Sci Pollut Res (2021) 28:40879–40894
0.053, V = 0.078, Pb = 0.030, Zn = 0.032, and Fe = 96.487
(Onyeachu et al. 2019). The ASTM G1-90 procedure
(ASTM) was followed in sample pre-treatment and mechani-
cal abrasion was done up to 1000-grit using Buchler
CarbiMetTM papers. The corrosive medium was 15 wt.%
HCl solution prepared by diluting appropriate amount of ana-
lytical grade hydrochloric acid (37%, Merck) with distilled
water. The DPL extracts stock solutions were prepared by
dissolving with 5 mL of their respective extracting solvents.
Subsequently, the DPL extracts stock solutions were appro-
priately diluted with the HCl solution to obtain the working
inhibitor concentrations.
Corrosion testing experiments
Mass loss experiments were performed following the proce-
dure as detailed in NACE TM0169/G31 (NACE International.
TM0193-2016-SG). Firstly, the initial mass (M0) of the pre-
pared X60 coupons was measured. Secondly, 250 mL capac-
ity reaction bottles were filled with 200 mL of respective test
solutions. Thirdly, two coupons each (dimension = 2.97 cm ×
2.86 cm × 1.10 cm; surface area = 30 cm2) were freely
suspended in each of the reaction bottles. Fourthly, the reac-
tion bottles were placed in a Thermo Scientific precision water
bath maintained at studied temperatures (25, 40, 50, and 60
°C) for 24 h. Fifthly, at the end of the testing duration, the
coupons were removed from the test solutions and sub-
jected to the post-treatment procedures enumerated in
the ASTM standard G1-90 (ASTM G-90 n.d.). Finally,
the new mass of the coupons (M1) was measured and
the mass loss calculated using Eq. 1.
Mass loss ðgÞ ¼ M 0 −M 1 ð1Þ
The corrosion rate (v) in g cm2/h and the percentage inhi-
bition efficiency (η) were calculated using Eqs. 2 and 3, re-
spectively (Odewunmi et al. 2020).
M formed using a 5420 atomic force microscope (N9498S,
v¼ ð2Þ
AT
! der ambient conditions.
M blank −M inhibited
η¼  100 ð3Þ
M blank
M is the mean mass loss, A is the exposed surface area, and
T is the immersion time.
A Gamry Potentiostat/Galvanostat/ZRA Reference 600 in-
strument was used for all electrochemical experiments. The
ASTM G3-89 (G3-89 1994) and G3-94 (ASTM G3-94 1994)
standard procedures were followed in the experiments. The
volume of test solution utilized in these sets of experiments
was 150 mL. An epoxy-encapsulated X60 steel with exposed
area of 0.73 cm2 served as the working electrode, a graphite
40881
rod acted as the counter electrode, while the reference was a
silver/silver chloride (sat. KCl) electrode. Electrochemical ex-
periments were performed in the order: open circuit potential
(OCP), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), elec-
trochemical frequency modulation (EFM), and potentiody-
namic polarization (PDP). The monitoring of the OCP, which
was to ensure a steady state condition, lasted for 3600 s. EIS
experiments started from initial frequency of 100,000 Hz and
terminated at a final frequency of 0.01 Hz. The amplitude
signal was 10 mV and 10 points/decade were acquired at
OCP. For EFM experiments, the base frequency was set at
1 Hz with amplitude of 10 mV while the multipliers A and
B were set at 2 and 5, respectively. The number of cycles
recorded was 32 each waveform repeats after 1 s. Finally,
for PDP experiments, the working electrode was scanned at
a rate of 0.2 mV/s from – 250 to +250 mV versus OCP. All the
experiments exception of the OCP were repeated twice to
ensure reproducibility. The EIS and EFM data were analyzed
using an Echem analyst while EC-lab software was used for
PDP data analysis. The percentage inhibition efficiency from
EFM and PDP techniques was computed using Eq. 4 while
that from EIS technique was calculated using Eq. 5 (Siğircik
et al. 2016).
!
iblank −iinhibited
η¼  100 ð4Þ
iblank
!
Rp inhibited −Rp blank
η¼  100 ð5Þ
Rp inhibited
where i and Rp are the mean current density and polarization
resistance, respectively.
The surface morphologies of the corroded X60 steel sam-
ples immersed in uninhibited and inhibited 15 wt.% HCl so-
lution for 24 h were observed using a scanning electron mi-
croscope (SEM), JEOL JSM-6610 LV model coupled to
energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX) for chemical
composition determination. AFM measurements were per-
Agilent Technologies, UK) operated in the contact mode un-
Results and discussion
Leaves extract characterization
Generally, a metal corrosion inhibitor is characterized by the
presence of heteroatom(s) and/or π-electrons in its moiety
(Verma et al. 2018). Information on the presence or absence
of chromophoric groups and aromatic rings in a compound
can be obtained from UV-vis spectrophotometry
40882
measurements. The UV-vis spectra recorded for the different
solvent DPL extracts are shown in the supporting information
as Fig. S1. The peaks arising from the π → π* and n → π*
electronic transitions are evident in the spectra. Specifically,
the ACE extract exhibits peaks at 210 nm, 326 nm, and 659
nm. The ETH extract shows peaks at 239 nm, 280 nm, and
664 nm while peaks are at 210 nm, 280 nm, 326 nm, and
663 nm in the BUT extract. The ISO extract exhibits absorp-
tion peaks at 226 nm, 280 nm, and 664 nm while the METH
extract displays absorption peaks at 230 nm, 280 nm, and 664
nm. Similarly, the EHY ACT extract shows four peaks at 253
nm, 280 nm, 414 nm, and 663 nm while the aqueous extract
(AE) exhibits peaks at 232 nm, 280 nm, and 324 nm. The
absorption band at 210–253 nm, according to Ghavri and
Adhav (2018), is suggestive of the presence of amides, aro-
matic compounds, ketones, and aldehydes. The band at
280 nm is typical of phenolic compounds (Patle et al. 2020).
According to authors (Patle et al. 2020; Song et al. 2020), this
absorption band is a reliable predictor for the phenolic content.
The band at 324–326 nm is indicative of the presence of fla-
vonoids in the extracts (Kalaichelvi and Dhivya 2017; Patle
et al. 2020). The absorption band at 414 nm in the EHY ACT
spectrum suggests the presence of carotenoids (Patle et al.
2020). The absorption band at 659–664 nm in the organic
solvent extract spectra is consistent with alkaloids
(Karpagasundari and Kulothungan 2014; Ghavri and Adhav
2018). The results, which are in agreement with previous re-
ports, infer that the DPL is rich in phytochemical compounds
such as tannins, flavonoids, saponnins, alkaloids, steroids,
phenols, terpenoids, carbohydrates, and amino acids (Nasser
et al. 2016), as such could act as a metal corrosion inhibitor.
However, the results (Fig. S1) reveal that the extracting sol-
vent significantly affected the extraction of the phytochemi-
cals in terms of the type and quantity. For instance, the alka-
loids absorption band at 659–664 nm in the organic solvent
spectra is absent in the AE extract spectrum. The BUT and
EHY ACT extracts exhibit four absorption bands while others
possess three absorption bands. The absorption intensity of the
peaks is seen to also vary. The differences in the extracted
phytochemicals could have effect on the corrosion inhibition
property of the extracts.
The DPL extracts were also characterized by FTIR and the
spectra obtained are shown in Fig. S2. The FTIR data and the
possible assignment are summarized in Table S1. In all the
extracts, the O–H stretch, the C–H stretch from cellulose,
hemicellulose, and lignin (Nabili et al. 2016), the C–O stretch
of polysaccharide components (Derrouiche et al. 2015), and
the C–Br stretch (Sunila et al. 2016) are detected corroborat-
ing the UV-vis results (Fig. S1) that the DPL extracts contain
heteroatoms-rich compounds. Again, there are discrepancies
in the wavenumbers when the spectra are compared agreeing
with the UV-vis results that the extracting solvents influenced
the extraction of phytochemicals from the leaves. Worthy of
Environ Sci Pollut Res (2021) 28:40879–40894
pointing out is the bands at 1652 cm−1 and 1558 cm−1
assigned to C=N in aromatic ring (Nabili et al. 2016) and
C=C of lignin aromatic ring (Mohd Rasli et al. 2017)
stretching, respectively, which are found only in the FTIR
profile of the BUT extract. These functional groups could give
the BUT extract added anticorrosion performance advantage
over other extracts.
Screening of different solvent DPLEs for anticorrosion
property
It had been demonstrated that extraction solvent affects the
corrosion inhibition property of plant parts extract (Ahanotu
et al. 2020). Ahanotu et al. (2020) noted that ethanol, metha-
nol, and aqueous Pterocarpus santalinoides leaves extract
inhibited the corrosion of low carbon steel in 1 M HCl solu-
tion in the order: ethanol extract > methanol extract > aqueous
extract. In our previous report (Umoren et al. 2014), we found
that the inhibition efficiency of coconut coir dust extracts was
remarkably influenced by extraction solvents and was in the
order: methanol extract ≫ ethanol extract > acetone extract >
aqueous extract. As it is known, solvent performs the function
of extraction by solubilizing plant bioactive compounds as it
diffuses through the plant tissues (Miralrio and Vázquez
2020). However, plant contains a variety of bioactive com-
pounds that have different solubility property in solvents. This
makes the task of selection of a suitable solvent for extraction
a difficult one. In this work, seven solvents (ethanol, metha-
nol, acetone, butanol, ethyl acetate, isopropanol, and water)
were used to extract date palm leaves (DPL) under the same
extraction conditions (except for aqueous extraction). The
DPL extracts obtained (400 ppm) were screened for anticor-
rosion property against the corrosion of X60 carbon steel in 15
wt.% HCl solution at 25 °C. The screening results are present-
ed in Fig. 1 and in Table 1. From the graphs in Fig. 1, it is clear
that the ACE, AE, and ETH DPL extracts promoted the cor-
rosion of X60 carbon steel in 15 wt.% HCl solution at 25 °C.
The ETH, ACE, and AE DPL extracts enhanced the metal
corrosion by 30.3%, 17.2%, and 7.0%, respectively
(Table 1). The reason for this observation is not fully under-
stood. Nevertheless, similar observation had been reported.
Lamaka et al. (2017) reported that 8-hydroxyquinoline accel-
erated the corrosion of Al-containing Mg alloy in 0.5 wt.%
NaCl solution. Chitosan, dextran, carboxymethyl cellulose,
pectin, and Gum Arabic were also found to accelerate the
corrosion of AZ31 Mg alloy in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution
(Umoren et al. 2020). The authors (Lamaka et al. 2017;
Umoren et al. 2020) speculated that the studied compounds
may have formed complex with the metal ions on the bulk
solution rather than on the metal surface. This may have been
the case with the ETH, ACE, and AE DPL extracts. It could be
that some bioactive compounds formed complexes with Fe2+
Environ Sci Pollut Res (2021) 28:40879–40894 40883

300
Blank ions in the electrolyte and by so doing accelerate the dissolu-
(a) BUT tion of the X60 carbon steel.
250 ACE
AE Further inspection of Fig. 2 reveals that the EHY ACT,
EHY ACT BUT, ISO, and METH DPL extracts exhibited corrosion in-
cm2)

200 ETH
ISO
hibition property towards X60 carbon steel in 15 wt.% HCl
150 METH solution. The order of inhibition is BUT ≫ EHY ACT > ISO >
Zimg (

Blank METH extracts. Results from PDP experiments (Table 1)

19.8 7.9 Hz
100 show that BUT, EHY ACT, ISO, and METH extracts
63.3 Hz inhibited the metal corrosion by 81.6%, 48.45%, 23.88%,
50 1.0 Hz and 7.46%, respectively. The results corroborate the UV-vis
and the FTIR results (Fig. S1 & S2). The additional bioactive
0 compounds extracted by BUT and EHY ACT as evidenced by
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 the additional absorption bands in the BUT and EHY ACT
Zre ( cm2) spectra in Fig. S1 may have contributed to the corrosion inhi-
bition by the extracts. The C=N of aromatic ring (Nabili et al.
-0.1 Blank 2016) and C=C of lignin aromatic ring (Mohd Rasli et al.
(b)
2017) found at 1652 cm−1 and 1558 cm−1 only in the FTIR
potential (V vs. Ag/AgCl)

-0.2 profile of the BUT extract may be the reason for the observed
outstanding corrosion inhibition performance by the BUT ex-
-0.3
tract relative to others. Based on the screening results, BUT
-0.4 extract was selected for elaborate studies.
Blank
-0.5 ACE
AE
Effect of concentration on the corrosion inhibition
-0.6 EHY ACT performance of BUT DPL extract
BUT
-0.7 ETH
ISO
OCP studies
METH
-0.8
The variation of open circuit potential obtained for X60 car-
10-7 10-6 10-5 10-4 10-3 10-2 10-1
bon steel during 3600 s of free corrosion in the 15 wt.% HCl
current density (A cm2) solutions without and with different concentrations of BUT
Fig. 1 (a) Impedance and b polarization plots for X60 carbon steel in 15 DPL extract is shown in Fig. 2a. For all conditions, the X60
wt.% HCl solution without and with 400 ppm of different solvents DPL sample attains a pseudo stable open circuit potential during the
extracts at 25 °C 3600 s allowed duration. This indicates that a quasi-

Table 1 Electrochemical parameters obtained during acid corrosion of X60 carbon steel in 15 wt.% HCl solution without and with 400 ppm of different
solvents DPL leaves extract at 25 °C

Conc. (ppm) EIS PDP

Rs Rct Rf (Rp = Rf + Rct) Goodness % ηEIS –Ecorr icorr % ηPDP

(Ω cm2) (Ω cm2) (Ω cm2) (Ω cm2) of Fit (×10–4) (mV/Ag/AgCl) (μA cm–2)

Blank 2.07 ± 0.03 60.44 ± 2.10 8.92 ± 0.34 69.36 ± 2.44 3.31 – 418 514.85 –
ACE 1.43 ± 0.01 52.82 ± 0.18 6.34 ± 2.19 59.16 ± 2.37 3.87 − 17.2 ± 2.37 414 606.36 − 17.77
AE 1.38 ± 0.03 40.59 ± 0.16 24.21 ± 0.53 64.80 ± 0.69 4.99 − 7.0 ± 0.69 423 549.49 − 6.73
EHY ACT 0.24 ± 0.00 76.65 ± 0.18 45.48 ± 0.22 122.13 ± 0.40 3.57 43.2 ± 0.40 413 265.42 48.45
BUT 1.97 ± 0.03 186.55 ± 0.25 76.79 ± 1.58 263.34 ± 1.83 6.09 73.7 ± 1.83 391 94.39 81.67
ETH 1.07 ± 0.01 47.35 ± 1.46 5.89 ± 0.86 53.24 ± 2.32 4.82 − 30.3 ± 2.32 419 708.25 − 37.56
ISO 1.25 ± 0.00 73.18 ± 1.29 20.88 ± 1.11 94.06 ± 2.40 3.32 26.3 ± 2.40 421 391.92 23.88
METH 2.39 ± 0.02 55.31 ± 1.10 18.61 ± 1.12 73.92 ± 7.22 4.11 6.2 ± 2.22 421 476.44 7.46

ACE, acetone extract; AE, aqueous extract; EHY ACT, ethyl acetate extract; BUT, butanol extract; ETH, ethanol extract; ISO, isopropanol extract; METH,
methanol extract
40884 Environ Sci Pollut Res (2021) 28:40879–40894

-0.38
(Siğircik et al. 2016). The dominant of these inhibition mech-
-0.39
anisms can be ascertained by calculating the difference be-
tween the open circuit potentials of uninhibited and inhibited
(V vs. Ag/AgCl)

-0.40 (a) systems (Srikanth et al. 2007; Siğircik et al. 2016). However,
the displacement of open circuit potential anodically or ca-
-0.41 thodically must be up to ±85 mV for the inhibitor to be clas-
sified as anodic or cathodic type (Srikanth et al. 2007).
-0.42 Otherwise, the inhibitor is a mixed type (Siğircik et al. 2016;
Blank Farhadian et al. 2020). In Fig. 2a, the displacement of open
E

-0.43 200 ppm

400 ppm
circuit potential by BUT DPL extract, although in anodic di-
-0.44 700 ppm rection, is below the benchmark (not exceeding 8 mV). This
1000 ppm defines BUT DPL extract as a mixed-type inhibitor but with
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 higher anodic influence.
elasped time (s)
EIS studies
1400
(b) 0 ppm
200 ppm
1200 400 ppm
The influence of concentration on the corrosion inhibition of
700 ppm BUT DPL extract was studied using electrochemical tech-
1000 1000 ppm
niques. Figure 2b shows the impedance spectra obtained for
( cm2)

Fitting line
800 X60 carbon steel in 15 wt.% HCl solution without and with
different concentrations of BUT DPL extract at 25 °C in (a)
600 15.8 Hz Nyquist and (b) Bode formats. The impedance spectra both in
Z

400
3.9 Hz the absence and presence of inhibitor look alike inferring same
corrosion mechanism (Aljourani et al. 2009). In the Nyquist
200
1.0 Hz
representation (Fig. 2b), each impedance graph exhibits a de-
pressed capacitive loop at the high-to-medium frequencies
0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 and a tiny inductive loop at the low frequency region. The
Zre ( cm ) capacitive loop, which is common with metals corrosion, in-
dicates a corrosion process that is driven by charge transfer
(c) 0 (Aljourani et al. 2009). The inductive loop, according to
3.0
Solmaz et al. (2008) is due to the adsorption of intermediate
2.5 products like (FeCl−)ads in the absence of inhibitor and/or
Phase angle (deg.)

-20
(FeCl−Inh+)ads in the presence of inhibitor. The imperfectness
log /Z/ ( cm2)

2.0
of the capacitive loop is called frequency dispersion effect and
1.5 -40 occurs due to surface inhomogeneity occasioned by the for-
mation of corrosion products and a porous layer on the elec-
1.0
0 ppm -60 trode surface (Solmaz et al. 2008, 2011; Raja et al. 2013).
200 ppm
0.5 400 ppm Generally, the diameter of a Nyquist plot of inhibited sys-
700 ppm
1000 ppm -80 tem relative to that of an uninhibited system is considered an
0.0
-2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
indicator of the strength of an inhibitor in inhibiting corrosion
log f (Hz)
process (Farhadian et al. 2020). It is obvious from Fig. 2b that
the corrosion inhibition performance of BUT DPL extract is a
Fig. 2 a Open circuit potential versus time plot and impedance plots for
X60 carbon steel at 25 °C in 15 wt.% HCl solution containing different function of concentration. As could be seen in the figure, the
concentrations of BUT DPL extract in b Nyquist and c Bode formats diameter of the semi-circle increases with increasing concen-
tration of the inhibitor. The concentration effect is also very
equilibrium in the rates of oxidation and reduction half- clear in the Bode graphs in Fig. 2c, i.e. the increase in the
reactions occurring at the steel-solution interface was concentration of the extract shifted the Bode modulus and
established (Siğircik et al. 2016). Relative to blank, the open Phase angle to a higher value. It is worth noting that the in-
circuit potential of BUT DPL extract containing solutions is crease in the concentration of BUT DPL extract do not change
displaced to nobler (anodic) potentials. As it is known the shapes of the Nyquist and Bode graphs meaning same
(Srikanth et al. 2007; Siğircik et al. 2016), organic-based cor- mechanism of action (Aljourani et al. 2009).
rosion inhibitors inhibit corrosion by suppressing the anodic The impedance was fitted using the electrical equivalent
oxidation or cathodic reduction half-reactions or both circuit inserted in Fig. 2b. It consists of three resistors (Rs,
Environ Sci Pollut Res (2021) 28:40879–40894 40885

41.0 ± 1.51
73.7 ± 1.83
82.4 ± 2.40
93.1 ± 2.55
Rct, and Rf) that account for the solution resistance, the charge

% ηEIS
transfer resistance across the interface, and the corrosion prod-
uct and/or inhibitor film resistance, respectively. The constant

–
phase element (CPE) was introduced to represent the non-

(×10–4)
ideal capacitances of the EIS spectra (the depressed semicir-

21.15
8.66
6.09
1.56
3.31
cles) and compensate the surface heterogeneity of the working

x2
electrode (Ali and Suleiman 2018; Marciales et al. 2018;

EIS parameters obtained during acid corrosion of X60 carbon steel in 15 wt.% HCl solution without and with different concentrations of BUT DPL extract at 25 °C
Yaocheng et al. 2019). The impedance (Z) of a CPE is

(μFcm–2)

117.00
expressed as (Farhadian et al. 2020):

19.20
57.60
33.20
27.90
Cdl
−n
Z CPE ¼ Y −1
0 ðjwÞ ð6Þ

1007.35 ± 2.55
(Rp = Rf + Rct)

117.65 ± 1.51
263.34 ± 1.83
394.20 ± 2.40
where Y0 is a proportionality factor, j is an imaginary number

69.36 ± 2.44
(−1)1/2, w is the angular velocity and is expressed as 2πf, and n

(Ω cm2)
is the CPE exponent and describes the phase shift (Onyeachu
and Solomon 2020). The parameters derived from the fitting
are given in Table 2. The corrosion inhibition efficiency (ηEIS)
and the double layer capacitance (Cdl) also listed in the table

131.90 ± 0.40
387.45 ± 1.25
35.37 ± 0.47
76.79 ± 1.58
8.92 ± 0.34
were calculated using Eq. 5 and Eq. 7 (Farhadian et al. 2020),

(Ω cm2)
respectively.
 1=n

Rf
C dl ¼ Y 0 R1−n
ct ð7Þ

0.95 ± 0.05
0.70 ± 0.00
0.73 ± 0.00
0.73 ± 0.04
0.82 ± 0.00
It is clear from Table 2 that the Rct, Rf, and the Rp (i.e. Rct +
Rf) values increase with increase in the concentration of the
BUT DPL extract revealing that the adsorption of the

nf
phytoconstituents of BUT DPL extract on the X60 carbon
steel surface produced a resistive effect that delays the charge

9820.00 ± 0.00
7120.00 ± 0.00
3056.00 ± 0.00
3565.00 ± 0.00
(μF cm–2 sn–1)

586.00 ± 0.00
transfer process and diminishes the metal corrosion in 15
wt.% HCl solution. Additionally, a decreasing trend in the
CPEf

Cdl value with increasing inhibitor concentration is observed

Yf

(Table 2), which is in accordance with the famous Helmholtz

equation (Eq. 8). According to Eq. 8, a decrease in the per- 186.55 ± 0.25
262.30 ± 2.00
619.90 ± 1.30
60.44 ± 2.10
82.28 ± 1.04

mittivity (εo), the local dielectric constant (ε), and the exposed
surface area (A) or an increase in the thickness of surface film
(Ω cm2)

(d) is the possible factor that can lead to a decrease in the Cdl.
Rct

It would therefore be logical to link the observed decreasing

trend in the Cdl value to an increase in the thickness of
0.87 ± 0.01

0.86 ± 0.01
0.86 ± 0.01
0.91 ± 0.00
0.82 ± 0.01

adsorbed phytoconstituents of BUT DPL extract since the

inhibition efficiency (η) value is increasing with increase in
extract concentration. It means the increase in the concentra-
ndl

tion of BUT DPL in the acid solution led to the adsorption of

appreciable amount of the phytoconstituent molecules on the
222.00 ± 0.00
151.00 ± 0.00
(μFcm–2 sn–1)

67.60 ± 0.00
55.50 ± 0.00
28.60 ± 0.00

metal surface that offered stiff opposition to the redox corro-

sion reactions and by extension effectively protected the sur-
CPEdl

face against corrosion. The outstanding performance of the

Ydl

1000 ppm BUT DPL extract against the corrosion of X60

carbon steel in 15 wt.% HCl solution worth pointing out.
2.07 ± 0.03
1.61 ± 0.02
1.97 ± 0.03
1.92 ± 0.03
1.62 ± 0.13

The presence of 1000 ppm of the extract in the aggressive

(Ω cm2)

solution raised the polarization resistance of the metal from

Rs

69.36 ± 2.44 Ω cm2 to 1007.35 ± 2.55 Ω cm2 and protect the

surface by 93.1%. This portrays the BUT DPL extract as a
Table 2

(ppm)
Conc.

1000

promising inexpensive active for the formulation of a corro-

200
400
700
0

sion inhibitor cocktail for acidizing application. Furthermore,

40886 Environ Sci Pollut Res (2021) 28:40879–40894

% ηPDP

87.93
97.27
50.35
81.67
the values of the ndl and nf parameters (Table 2) are near unity
indicating that the X60 surface exhibited capacitive character

–
in the studied medium (Qiang et al. 2017).
εo εA

0.04
0.50
0.22
0.15
C dl ¼ ð8Þ

Polarization parameters obtained during acid corrosion of X60 carbon steel in 15 wt.% HCl solution without and with different concentrations of BUT DPL extract at 25 °C

fc

-
d

0.06
0.51
0.25
0.19
fa
PDP studies

-
Figure 3 shows the cathodic and anodic polarization plots of

(mV dec–1)
X60 carbon steel exposed to 15 wt.% HCl solution free from

123.80

154.60
123.30
122.10
144.80
and containing different concentrations of BUT DPL extract

–βc
at ordinary temperature. The electrochemical polarization pa-
rameters such as corrosion potential (Ecorr), corrosion current
density (icorr), and cathodic and anodic Tafel slopes (βc and

(mV dec–1)
βa) derived from the analysis of the Tafel region of the plots

106.80
107.00
84.20
82.20
65.90
are listed in Table 3. The percentage of inhibition efficiency

βa
(% ηPDP) was calculated using Eq. 4. As seen in Fig. 3, the
addition of the extract to the acid solution caused a significant
reduction in the anodic and cathodic current densities. The

(μA cm–2)
data in Table 3 reveals that the presence of 200 ppm of

514.85
255.60
94.39
62.16
14.07
icorr
BUT DPL extract in the corrosive medium reduced the cor-
rosion current density by more than half, i.e. from 514.85 to
255.60 μA cm–2, which translated to corrosion inhibition of
50.35%. Increase in the concentration of the extract to 400

(mV/Ag/AgCl)
ppm, 700 ppm, and 1000 ppm further decreased icorr to
94.39 μA cm–2, 62.16 μA cm–2, and 14.07 μA cm–2 and
the metal surface was protected by 81.67%, 87.93%, and
–Ecorr
PDP

418
416
391
381
361
97.27%, respectively. This again demonstrates the effective-
ness of BUT DPL extract as an acidizing corrosion inhibitor.
Furthermore, it is observed in Fig. 3 that the addition of the
% ηEFM

extract to the corrosive medium caused a minimal displace-

95.30
50.70
81.63
88.15
ment of the corrosion potential to nobler potential relative to
–

the corrosion potential of the blank. The highest displacement

2.92 ± 0.77
3.18 ± 1.73
3.21 ± 0.00
3.12 ± 0.09
3.23 ± 0.07

-0.1
CF–3
potential (V vs. Ag/AgCl)

-0.2

-0.3
2.09 ± 0.20
1.52 ± 0.38
2.02 ± 0.01
1.91 ± 0.02
1.94 ± 0.07

-0.4
CF–2

-0.5
0 ppm
-0.6 200 ppm
647.10 ± 6.20
319.00 ± 1.40
118.90 ± 0.60

400 ppm
30.39 ± 1.64
76.71 ± 0.09

-0.7
(μA cm–2)

700 ppm
1000 ppm
EFM

-0.8
icorr

10-9 10-8 10-7 10-6 10-5 10-4 10-3 10-2

current density (A cm2)
Table 3

(ppm)
Conc.

1000

Fig. 3 Polarization plots for X60 carbon steel in 15 wt.% HCl solution
200
400
700

without and with different concentrations of BUT DPL extract at 25 °C

0
Environ Sci Pollut Res (2021) 28:40879–40894 40887

Blank 10-4 200 ppm

10-4

10-5
10-5
10-6
log i (A)

log i (A)
10-6
10-7

10-7
10-8

10-8 10-9

10-9 10-10
-2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
frequency (Hz) frequency (Hz)

400 ppm 700 ppm

-5 10-5
10

10-6
10-6
log i (A)

log i (A)

10-7 10-7

10-8 10-8

10-9 10-9

10-10 10-10
-2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
frequency (Hz) frequency (Hz)

10-5 1000 ppm

10-6
log i (A)

10-7

10-8

10-9

10-10
-2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
frequency (Hz)
Fig. 4 Intermodulation spectra recorded for X60 carbon steel in 15 wt.% HCl solution without and with different concentrations of BUT DPL extract at
25 °C

is caused by the 1000 ppm BUT DPL extract and the value is preference, i.e. it suppressed the cathodic reduction reaction
57 mV/Ag/AgCl (Table 3). This indicates that the BUT DPL and preferably the carbon steel oxidation reaction (Aljourani
extract functioned as a mixed-type inhibitor with anodic et al. 2009; Farhadian et al. 2020). This is in excellent
40888 Environ Sci Pollut Res (2021) 28:40879–40894

agreement with the OCP results (Fig. 2a). Interface inhibitors, reported by Mohammed et al. (2020), Kuş and Mansfeld
according to some authors (Arellanes-Lozada et al. 2020; (2006), and Amin et al. (2009). The authors (Kuş and
Honarvar Nazari et al. 2020), inhibit metals corrosion through Mansfeld 2006; Amin et al. 2009; Mohammed et al. 2020)
(i) geometric blockage effect, (ii) active site blocking effect, or linked the observation to the fact that the modulation frequen-
(iii) electro-catalytic effect. The prevalence effect can be dis- cies used in EFM technique are in the capacitive region of the
tinguished using the coefficients of anodic (fa) and cathodic impedance spectra. Nevertheless, the results obtained from
(fc) reactions (Arellanes-Lozada et al. 2020). For a corrosion EIS, PDP, and EFM are in good agreement. The inhibition
inhibition by geometrical blocking, fa is equal to fc (Arellanes- efficiency of the1000 ppm BUT DPL extract for instance is
Lozada et al. 2020). For inhibition by active site blocking, fa 93.1% from EIS technique, 97.27% from PDP technique, and
and fc is less than unity whereas fa or fc is greater than unity for 95.30% from the EFM technique.
inhibition by electro-catalytic effect (Arellanes-Lozada et al.
2020). The values of fa and fc calculated using Eqs. 9 and 10
(Arellanes-Lozada et al. 2020), respectively, are also given in Effect of temperature on the corrosion inhibition
Table 3. As could be seen in the table, both fa and fc values are performance of BUT DPL extract
less than unity; hence, we conclude that the extract
phytoconstituent molecules adsorb on the carbon steel surface The gravimetric technique was used to study the influence of
and block the active corrosion sites thereby delaying the temperature on the corrosion of X60 carbon steel and on the
charge transfer process. The fact that the Tafel slopes (βa
500
and βc) do not present a defined behaviour pattern with respect (a) 25 C
to the blank again support the claim that the adsorption pro- 40 C
cess of BUT DPL extract on X60 surface in 15 wt.% HCl corrosion rate (g cm 2 h 1) 400 50 C
solution is due to the blockage of active sites by the extract 60 C
phytochemical compounds (Arellanes-Lozada et al. 2020).
300
 inhibited  Eblank −Einhibited
i corr corr
f a ¼ corr e βa ð9Þ
iblank
corr 200
 inhibited  Eblank −Einhibited
i corr corr
f c ¼ corr e βc ð10Þ
iblank
corr 100

0
EFM studies 0 200 400 700 1000
inhibitor concentration (ppm)
Figure 4 depicts the EFM intermodulation spectra of X60
carbon steel in 15 wt.% HCl solution without and with the 25 C (b)
various concentrations of BUT DPL extract at 25 °C. The 100
40 C
inhibition efficiency (%)

intense peaks are the harmonic and intermodulation signals 50 C

(Amin et al. 2009; Mohammed et al. 2020) which were select- 80 60 C
ed for the calculation of the electrochemical parameters (icorr,
casualty factors CF-2 and CF-3) listed in Table 3. The inhibi-
60
tion efficiency was calculated for the different concentrations
of the extract using Eq.4. Inspection of these data reveals that
the CF-2 and CF-3 values are approximately 2 and 3, respec- 40
tively, i.e. the theoretical values indicating high quality of the
measured data (Amin et al. 2009; Mohammed et al. 2020). 20
The icorr value follows the trend noted for icorr from the PDP
technique (Table 3). The icorr value decreases appreciably with
0
increasing inhibitor concentration indicating the high corro- 200 400 700 1000
sion protecting ability of the extract. However, a comparison inhibitor concentration (ppm)
of the icorr value of each concentration obtained from PDP
Fig. 5 The variation of a corrosion rate and b inhibition efficiency with
technique to that of EFM technique, it is observed that the i- inhibitor concentration for the corrosion of X60 carbon steel in 15 wt.%
corr values from EFM technique are slightly bigger than those HCl solution without and with BUT DPL extract at different temperatures
from the PDP techniques. Similar observation had been from mass loss experiments
Environ Sci Pollut Res (2021) 28:40879–40894
corrosion inhibition by BUT DPL extract in 15 wt.% HCl
solution. Figure 5 shows the variation of (a) corrosion rate
and (b) inhibition efficiency with inhibitor concentration for
the corrosion of X60 carbon steel in 15 wt.% HCl solution
without and with BUT DPL extract at different temperatures.
Expectedly, the corrosion rate at each inhibitor concentration
increases steadily with rise in temperature. However, the pres-
ence of the extract substantially slowed down the corrosion
rate. The data show that the carbon steel in 15 wt.% HCl
solution at 25 °C, 40 °C, 50 °C, and 60 °C corroded at the
rate of 32.5 g cm−2 h−1, 116.2 g cm−2 h−1, 237.1 g cm−2 h−1,
and 430.6 g cm−2 h−1, respectively but was reduced to 6.63 g
cm−2 h−1, 9.69 g cm−2 h−1, 31.5 g cm−2 h−1, and 61.5 g cm−2
h−1 in the presence of 1000 ppm of BUT DPL extract. In Fig.
5b, it is noticed that the inhibition efficiency of each concen-
tration of the extract increases up to 40 °C but de-
creases slightly thereafter. Normally, an increase in in-
hibition efficiency with temperature is indicative of
chemical adsorption while the reverse indicates physical
Fig. 6 SEM images and EDAX spectra of X60 carbon steel at 25 °C after immersion in 15 wt.% HCl solution a b) without inhibitor, c, d containing
1000 ppm BUT DPL extract for 24 h
40889
adsorption (Oguzie et al. 2014). However, the effect of
temperature on surface adsorbed inhibitor layer can be
enormous. A rise in system temperature can cause the
detachment of adsorbed inhibitor film, the decomposi-
tion of inhibitor molecules, and the rearrangement of
inhibitor molecules (Oguzie et al. 2007). It appears from
Fig. 5b that both physical and chemical adsorptions oc-
curred on the X60 carbon steel surface. The extract bio-
molecules may have first adsorbed on the metal surface
chemically through the sharing of electrons between the
heteroatoms in the extract biomolecules and the empty d-
orbital of Fe. As the system condition becomes severer at
50 °C and 60 °C, the surface film may have undergone
one or all of the above listed changes that resulted in the
observed slight decrease in inhibition efficiency.
Nevertheless, the 1000 ppm BUT DPL extract still
afforded 86.7% and 85.7% corrosion protection at 50 °C
and 60 °C, respectively, meaning the extract is indeed a
promising acidizing corrosion inhibitor.
40890 Environ Sci Pollut Res (2021) 28:40879–40894

(A)

Rp = 0.15 µm; Rv = 0.12 µm; Rz = 0.27 µm

Rt = 0.27 µm; Ra = 0.04 µm; Rq = 0.05 µm

(a(ii))
(a(i))

(a(iii))

(B)

Rp = 0.06 µm; Rv = 0.03 µm; Rz = 0.08 µm

Rt = 0.08 µm; Ra = 0.01 µm; Rq = 0.02 µm

(b(ii))
(b(i))

(b(iii))
 Environ Sci Pollut Res (2021) 28:40879–40894
ƒFig. 7 AFM images in 2D and 3D for X60 carbon steel at 25 °C after
immersion in 15 wt.% HCl solution a without inhibitor, and b containing
1000 ppm BUT DPL extract for 24 h. The associated ISO 4287 amplitude
parameters are listed in a(ii) and b(ii)
Observation of the corroded surfaces
The SEM images and EDAX spectra of X60 carbon steel at 25
°C after immersion in 15 wt.% HCl solution (a, b) without
inhibitor and (c,d) containing 1000 ppm BUT DPL extract for
24 h are shown in Fig. 6. Severe surface corrosion that resulted
in heaps of corrosion products deposit is observed in Fig. 6a.
The deposit seems loosely attached to the metal surface. It was
shown through the use of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
technique that the corrosion of carbon steel in 15 wt.% HCl
solution produce a mixture of oxides, chlorides, hydroxides,
and carbonates as the corrosion products (Solomon et al.
2019b). The EDAX spectrum in Fig. 6b discloses that the
deposit on Fig. 6a surface is rich in Cl and O, which agrees
with previous results (Solomon et al. 2019b). By comparing
the surfaces in Fig. 6a and 6c, one could see that the deposit on
Fig. 6c surface is different from that on Fig. 6a. The whitish
component found in Fig. 6a surface is less in Fig. 6c and the
surface deposit on Fig. 6c seems more compact and firmly
attached. The appearance of the C peak in Fig. 6d is an evi-
dence that the adsorbed product on Fig. 6c is organic in nature.
Figure 7 shows the 2D and 3D AFM surface morphology
of the X60 carbon steel at 25 °C after immersion in 15 wt.%
HCl solution (a) without inhibitor and (b) containing
1000 ppm BUT DPL extract for 24 h. The associated ISO
4287 roughness parameters are listed in Fig. 7a(ii)) and b(ii).
The definition of the roughness parameters can be found in
our previous publication (Solomon et al. 2018). The AFM
images in Fig. 7a(i and iii) display highly irregular topography
occasioned by the presence of peaks and valleys that indicate
severe corrosion damage on the surface. The surface rough-
ness parameters in Fig. 7a(ii) also point to serious corrosion
damage. Compared to the AFM images in Fig. 7b, there is no
doubt that the extract appreciably protected the carbon steel
surface against corrosion. The surface in Fig. 7b is smoother
and less damaged relative to the surface in Fig. 7a and all the
values of the roughness parameters in Fig. 7b(ii) are smaller
than those in Fig. 7a(ii). These results conform with other
results (Tables 2 and 3) and confirm the effectiveness of the
BUT DPL extract as inhibitor for X60 carbon steel in 15 wt.%
HCl solution.
Conclusions and outlook
As the world looks forward to phasing out toxic chemicals by
2030 (Lerner 2019), corrosion scientists are hoping to deploy
40891
plant parts extracts as green and sustainable raw material for
corrosion inhibitor development (Chen et al. 2013;
Krishnegowda et al. 2013; El Bribri et al. 2013; Shalabi
et al. 2014; Nikpour et al. 2019; Sedik et al. 2020a). In this
work, different solvents, namely acetone, ethanol, water, bu-
tanol, methanol, isopropanol, and ethyl acetate, were used to
extract date palm leaves. FTIR and UV-vis data reveal that
butanol extract additional organic component relative to other
extraction solvents. After anticorrosion property screening,
butanol date palm leaves extract is found to exhibit the highest
anticorrosion property for X60 carbon steel in 15 wt.% HCl
solution. Based on the screening results, comprehensive cor-
rosion inhibition study was performed on butanol DPL ex-
tract. It is found that the corrosion inhibition efficacy of the
extract increase with increasing concentration and 1000 ppm
affords 97% protection. The inhibition performance of the
extract increases up to 40 °C but slightly decreases upon in-
crement of the system temperature to 50 °C and 60 °C.
Nevertheless, 85% protection could still be achieved with
1000 ppm of the extract at 60 °C. The SEM and AFM results
prove that the studied butanol date palm leaves extract is in-
deed effective in retarding the dissolution of X60 carbon steel
in 15 wt.% HCl solution.
Using plants as a source of corrosion inhibitors is of interest
because they are eco-friendly, biodegradable, renewable, and
inexpensive, which is advantageous in comparison to toxic
and expensive inhibitors that are currently in use. However,
the primary criticisms of the use of biomass extracts of plant
origin as corrosion inhibitors is the inability to determine the
specific component(s) that is/are responsible for the inhibition
of corrosion given that plant extracts are composed of mix-
tures of organic compounds. In our present study, the pertinent
questions are: why are butanol extracts performing better than
others and which compound(s) is/are responsible for it? To
provide answers to these questions, we recently acquire a
state-of-the-art preparative HPLC-MS instrument from
Agilent Technologies, USA. Work is ongoing using this
equipment to isolate the compound(s) present in the DPL ex-
tract obtained using butanol that is/are responsible for the
enhanced corrosion inhibition effect.
Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary
material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13567-5.
Acknowledgements The support provided by the Deanship of Scientific
Research (DSR) and the Center of Research Excellence in Corrosion
(CORE-C), at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals
(KFUPM) is acknowledged.
Author contribution S. A. Umoren: conceptualization, funding acquisi-
tion, project administration, writing - review and editing, M. M.
Solomon: data curation, writing - original draft, investigation, for-
mal analysis. R.K. Suleiman: conceptualization, formal analysis,
writing - review and editing. I. B. Obot: conceptualization, formal
analysis, writing - review and editing.
40892
Funding King Abdul-Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST)
funded the work under the National Science Technology Plan (NSTIP)
grant no. 14-ADV2452-04.
Availability of data and materials The datasets generated and/or ana-
lyzed during the current study are not publicly available due to the fact
that the results are part of ongoing study but are available from the cor-
responding author on reasonable request.
Declarations
Ethics approval and consent to participate Not applicable.
Consent for publication Not applicable.
Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests.
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