Introducing the Santolina chamaecyparissus Extract as a Suitable Green Inhibitor for 304 Stainless Steel Corrosion in Strong Acidic Medium

The inhibitive action of extract of Santolina chamaecyparissus (Santolina) as a green inhibitor on corrosion of 304 stainless steel (304 SS) in 6 M HCl solution was investigated by weight loss, potentiodynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy techniques, and scanning electron microscopic observations. The results of potentiodynamic polarization studies indicate that the extract shows mixed-type inhibition behavior and inhibition efficiency of 95.5 pct was achieved with the addition of 1.0 g L⁻¹ extract. Impedance curves show that increasing Santolina concentration increases charge transfer resistance and decreases double-layer capacitance. The corrosion rate decreased with increasing concentration of extract and increased with the increase in temperature of the medium. The effect of temperature and related activation parameters was studied. Adsorption of the extract obeyed the Langmuir isotherm model. The negative value of the standard free energy of adsorption in the presence of the extract suggests the spontaneous adsorption of Santolina on 304 stainless steel surface. The inhibition efficiencies obtained from electrochemical tests were in good agreement with those obtained from weight loss measurements.