Determination of the Corrosion Inhibition Effect of Terminalia Ivorensis Leaves Extract on Galvanized and Mild Steel in Sulphuric Acid Media

The susceptibility of metals to corrosion due to attack by their environment has necessitated the search for corrosion inhibitors which can protect the metals and also be friendly with the environment. In this research, corrosion inhibition study of Terminalia ivorensis leaves extract on galvanized and mild steel in 1.0M Sulphuric acid was carried out to determine the corrosion inhibition ability of the leaves extract on the metals using weight loss method in three different concentrations (15g/l, 10g/l and 5g/l) of the extract and the acid solution. The metals were immersed in the solution for a period 432hours. The weight loss of the metals was checked at 72hours intervals. The results obtained reveal that there was decrease in weight loss of the metals immersed in the solution with the extract which indicates that the extract is a good corrosion inhibitor for galvanized and mild steel in sulphuric acid. The inhibition efficiency increased with increase in extract concentration at the temperature of study (ambient temperature). Maximum inhibition efficiency of 92.47% on mild steel and 82.10% on galvanized steel were obtained at the optimum concentration of the extract (15.0g/l). The inhibitive action was attributed to the presence of some notable phytochemical components of the leaves which possessed lone pairs of electrons that gave oxidative protection to the metals. It was observed that the protection by the extract was as a result of the adsorption of the extract on the metals and the experimental data obtained revealed that the adsorption followed Langmuir adsorption isotherm