Inhibition of acid corrosion of carbon steel using aqueous extract of olive leaves.

The inhibitive action of the aqueous extract of olive (Olea europaea L.) leaves toward the corrosion of C-steel in 2 M HCl solution was investigated using weight loss measurements, Tafel polarization, and cyclic voltammetry. It was found that the extract acts as a good corrosion inhibitor for the tested system. The inhibition efficiency increases with increasing extract concentration. The inhibitive action of the extract is discussed with a view to adsorption of its components onto the steel surface, making a barrier to mass and charge transfer. The adsorption of extract components onto the steel surface was found to be a spontaneous process and to follow the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. It was found also that such adsorption increases the activation energy of the corrosion process. The results of cyclic voltammetry showed that the presence of olive extract decreases the charge density in the transpassive region. The inhibition efficiency is greatly reduced as the temperature is increased.