Investigating the effect of mulberry leaf dye extracts towards stainless steel corrosion.

Abstract

Plant extracts from leaves, roots, stems, flowers and many other parts have become very vital in the eco-system as corrosion inhibitors to various metals because they are less toxic, accessible, cheap and have simple developing processes. In this study, the effect of mulberry leaf dye extracts containing 10% HCL, on stainless steel corrosion was studied using the weight loss method. Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used to characterize the mulberry leaf extracts to examine the adsorptive functional groups of the phytochemicals and phytochemical screening was carried out using reagents. The morphological structure of the stainless-steel coupons was studied using the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The inhibition efficiency was found to depend on temperature and concentration of both HCL and the dye. The results from characterization confirmed the formation of a protective layer through chemisorption bonding on the stainless-steel surface. The inhibitory effect of the mulberry leaf extracts was higher at high concentration of the dye with 98% which confirmed the dye as a corrosion inhibitor of stainless-steel.