Corrosion Inhibition of Mild Steel in Acidic Medium using Essential Oil of Clove (Syzygium aromaticum) as Inhibitor

Abstract

This research work deployed a weight loss technique in evaluating the feasibility and efficiency of using essential oil of clove as corrosion inhibitor due to its anti-oxidant properties. Prepared sample of mild steel was exposed to acidic medium in the absence of inhibitor and the corrosion rate was evaluated. Subsequently, other samples of the same mild steel were exposed to acidic environment in the presence of varied concentrations of the inhibitor. It was found that, the corrosion rates are relatively higher in the uninhibited system than the inhibited systems. This entails that clove essential oils have profound effect of inhibiting corrosion of mild steel in an acidic medium. The inhibition efficiency was found to increase with a corresponding increase in the concentration of the inhibitor. Further evaluation by adsorption isotherm revealed a mixed inhibition.

Keywords: Clove, concentration, inhibitor, corrosion, mild steel