Rosemary Extract as Eco Friendly Corrosion Inhibitor: P a g e | 110

Journal of Industrial Research & Technology, Volume 1, Issue 2, August 2011

An International Journal

HATAM Publishers

J. Ind. Res. Tech. 1(2), 110-113, 2011


Journal homepage: http://www.hgpub.com/index.php/jirt
Rosemary Extract as Eco Friendly Corrosion Inhibitor for Low Carbon Steel
in Acidic Medium

S. Khalid Hasan*
,a
and Salem Edrah
b


a
Department of Applied Chemistry, Institute of Technology, GIDA, Gorakhpur, India
b
Department of Chemistry, Al-Khums, University of Misurata, Libya

* Corresponding author, Phone: +919532597975, Email: drskhasan@yahoo.com,
b
ragaada@yahoo.com,

ARTICLE INFORMATION ABSTRACT
Article history
Received 03 February 2011
Revised 21 April 2011
Accepted 15 July 2011
Available online 30 August 2011



The inhibition of corrosion of low carbon steel using Rosemary
(Rosmarinus officinalis L.) extract in 1M hydrochloric acid solution was
investigated by weight loss method at room temperature. The result
showed that corrosion rate was significantly decreased in presence of the
extract and inhibition efficiency increased with increasing the concentration
of extract. The decreased corrosion rate was due to adsorption of plant
extract which was discussed on the basis of Langmuir and Temkin
adsorption isotherm.

Keywords
Rosemary extract,
Corrosion inhibitor,
Carbon steel,
Adsorption,
Weight loss

2011 HATAM: Publishers. All rights Reserved.

1. Introduction
Mi neral aci ds are extensi vel y used for
cleani ng; pickl ing and de-scal i ng of metall ic
materi als especi al l y iron (Farina, C.A. 2004).
Hydrochloric aci d attacks aggressi vel y
towards low carbon steel l eading to material
deteri orati on which cause decreased service
l ife of the metal. Organic i nhi bitors are the
best choice to meet out such probl em and to
reduce the corrosi on attack (Schmitt. G.
1994). Natural products such as extracts of
easi l y avai l abl e plants and trees have been
used as eco friendl y corrosi on i nhi bi tors.
Plant extract contai ns several organic
compounds which have corrosi on i nhi bi tion
abi li ties. The extracts from different parts of
many plants have been reported as corrosi on
inhibi tors in acidic media (Okafor,P.C.,et al .,
2008; Ebenso, E.E. et al. , 1996; Kliskic, M.
et al., 2000; Ebenso, E.E.et al ., 2004; El -
Etre, A.Y. et al ., 2005, Umoren, S.A. et al.,
2006). An umpteen numbers of natural
products, Si da rhombifol ia. L, Ci trus
aurantiifol ia, Henna, Ginger, Pi per Nigrum,
Azadirachta Indica (Neem) and Thyme have
been isol ated from different parts of pl ants
and trees and its appl icabil i t y as corrosi on
inhibi tors has been reported (Saratha, R.
and Pri ya, S. V., 2010; Saratha, R. et al .,
2009;Chetouani, A. and Hammouti, B., 2003;
Bouyanzer, A. and Hammouti, B., 2004;
Anand, B. and Bal asubramanian, V., 2010;
Peter, C., et al ., 2010; Bendahou, M. et al.,
2006).
Journal of Industrial Research & Technology
Rosemary Extract as Eco Friendly Corrosion Inhibitor: P a g e | 111

Journal of Industrial Research & Technology, Volume 1, Issue 2, August 2011
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) is found in
Mediterranean region such as France, Italy, Spain,
Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Libya and other parts of
North Africa. In Libya Rosemary has got recognition
as a medicinal plant with local name of Kleel.
Aqueous extract of rosemary has been reported as
inhibitor of Al-Mg alloy corrosion in chloride solution
(Kli_Skic, M., 2000) and adsorption property of
rosmarinus officinalis oil as green corrosion inhibitor
in H
2
SO
4
has recently been published (El Ouariachi,
E. 2010)
2.1 Experimental
2.1.1 Materials and Methods
2.1.1.1 Alloy Used
Commercially available low carbon steel (C
0.2% by weight) was used for all experiments. The
carbon steel sheet of 2 mm thickness was
mechanically press-cut into 3 3 cm coupons.
Prior to the study, the steel coupons were immersed
in 5% HCl as pickling solution to remove rust and
sequentially polished on different grade emery
papers to make surface even and smooth. The
specimens were then washed and degreased with
acetone.

2.1.1.2 Chemicals Used
1M HCl solution was prepared using analytical
grade concentrated 37% HCl and double distilled
water. This acid solution was used for corrosion
analyses and for extract preparation.

2.1.1.3 Preparation of Plant Extract
Fresh Rosemary (Kleel) plants were collected
from Al-Khums city of Libya. The leaves of the plant
were air-dried and kept in an oven maintained at
50C for constant weight to remove the moisture.
Dried plant was then ground to make powder. 10 g
of dried powder of leaves were refluxed in 200 mL of
1M HCl for 3 hours and kept overnight. Next day it
was filtered and the filtrate volume was made up to
200 mL using 1M HCl. The extract so prepared was
taken as stock solution from which 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and
12 % test solutions were prepared.

2.1.1.4 Weight Loss Studies
The weight loss studies were carried out at room
temperature (21C) by immersing previously
weighed steel coupons in 100 ml of blank 1M HCl
and test solutions of various concentrations of
extract for 48 hours. After 48 hours of reaction, the
specimens were taken out, washed with water, dried
with warm air drier and weighed. Corrosion rates
(weight loss per cm
2
per hour) were calculated using
following expression:

Corrosion Rate (CR) (mg.cm
2
h
1
) =
[W
1
W
2
(mg)] / [Surface area (cm
2
) Time (h)]

Where,
W
1
= initial weight of coupon,
W
2
= weight of coupon after treatment
W
1
W
2
= weight loss (mg)
The surface coverage () as a result of adsorption of
inhibitor and inhibition efficiency (%) were
calculated from corrosion rate values by using the
following equation:
CR
blank
CR
inhibitor

Surface coverage () =
CRblank

CRblank CRinhibitor
Inhibition Efficiency (%) = 100
CR
blank


Where, CR
blank
and CR
inhibitor
are the corrosion rates
in absence and presence of the inhibitor
respectively.

3. Results and Discussion
The corrosion rate of low carbon steel in 1M
hydrochloric acid solution was studied by weight
loss method in absence and presence of aqueous
extract of Rosmarinus officinalis L. plant at room
temperature (21C) and percent inhibition efficiency
was calculated. Figure 1 shows the variation of
corrosion rate (mg cm
2
h
1
) with concentration (%)
of inhibitor. From the plot it was observed that
corrosion rate was significantly lowered down in
presence of inhibitor. The corrosion rate was found
to be dependent on the concentration of inhibitor.
With the increase in concentration the corrosion rate
decreased gradually. Figure 2 shows the variation of
% inhibition efficiency with concentration (%) of
inhibitor and the data revealed that inhibition
efficiency increased with increasing the
concentration. The decreasing corrosion rate and
increasing inhibition efficiency was attributed to the
fact that the formation of protective layer due to the
adsorption of inhibitor on the metal surface. Due to
adsorption the corrosion sites of metal surface get
blocked and adsorbed film of inhibitor acts as
physical barrier between metal surface and
corrosion medium. Adsorption of rosemary depends
Rosemary Extract as Eco Friendly Corrosion Inhibitor: P a g e | 112

Journal of Industrial Research & Technology, Volume 1, Issue 2, August 2011
on its chemical composition which showed the
presence of various poly-phenolic compounds like
carnosol and carnosic acid and rosmarinic acid and
many others (Aziza et al.,, 2008) which has oxygen
atoms with lone pair electrons for co-ordinate
bonding with metal. These molecules possess high
molecular weight with complicated structures. Most
of the effective organic inhibitors used in industry
have heteroatoms such as O, N, S containing
multiple bonds in their molecules through which they
can adsorb on the metal surface (Quraishi et al.,
1996; Murlidharan and Iyer, 1997; Al-Andis et al.,
1995; Hammouti et al., 1995).



Figure 1: Variation of corrosion rate with
concentration of Rosemary in 1M
HCl solution.



Figure 2: Variation of percent inhibition
efficiency with concentration of Rosemary
in 1M HCl solution

3.1 Applicability of adsorption isotherms
The surface coverage () values for different
concentrations of the inhibitor in 1M HCl have been
evaluated from the weight loss data. The data were
tested graphically to find a suitable adsorption
isotherm. A plot of log (/(1)) against log C
(Figure-3) showed a straight line indicating that
adsorption follows the Langmuir adsorption
isotherm. When the surface coverage () was
plotted against log C for the inhibitor, a straight line
was obtained. This showed that the adsorption
obeys a Temkin adsorption isotherm, which is
graphically represented in Figure 4.


Figure 3: Langmuir Adsorption Isotherm


Figure 4: Temkin Adsorption Isotherm
4. Conclusions
The results presented in the paper showed that the
extract of leaves of rosemary inhibited the corrosion
of carbon steel in 1M HCl solution significantly.
Inhibition efficiency of rosemary extract increased
with increasing extract concentration. The inhibition
activity of rosemary extract was due to the
adsorption ability of the extract which was confirmed
by Langmuir and Temkin adsorption isotherms.

References
Al-Andis, N.; Khamis, E.; Al-Mayouf, A. & Aboul
Enicm, H.; (1995) Electrochemical studies of two
corrosion inhibitors for iron in HCl , Corros. Prev.
Control, 42 (1), 13.
Anand B. & Balasubramanian, V. (2010), A
comparative study on corrosion inhibition of mild
steel using Piper Nigrum L. in different acid
media., E-Journal of Chemistry, 7(3), 942-946.
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
0 5 10 15
C
o
r
r
o
s
i
o
n

R
a
t
e

(
m
g

c
m

2

h

1
)



Concentration %
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 5 10 15

%

Concentration %
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
0 0.5 1 1.5
L
o
g

(

/
1

)

Log C
0.66
0.68
0.7
0.72
0.74
0.76
0.78
0.8
0 0.5 1 1.5

Log C
Rosemary Extract as Eco Friendly Corrosion Inhibitor: P a g e | 113

Journal of Industrial Research & Technology, Volume 1, Issue 2, August 2011
Aziza Kamal Genena, Haiko Hense, Artur Smnia
Junior & Simone Machado de Souza, (2008),
Cinc. Tecnol. Aliment., Campinas, Rosemary
(Rosmarinus officinalis) - a study of the
composition, antioxidant and antimicrobial
activities of extracts obtained with supercritical
carbon dioxide, Apr.-Jun. 28(2), 463-469.
Bendahou, M., Benabdallah, M. & Hammouti, B.,
(2006), A study of rosemary oil as a green
corrosion inhibitor for steel in 2M H
3
PO
4
, Pigm
Res Technol. 35 (2), 95-100.
Bouyanzer A. & Hammouti B., (2004), Naturally
occurring ginger as a corrosion inhibitor for steel
in molar hydrochloric acid at 353 K A. Bull.
Electrochem., 20, 63-65.
Chetouani A. & Hammouti B., (2003), Corrosion
inhibition of iron in hydrochloric acid solutions by
naturally henna. Bull Electrochem 19, 23-25.
Ebenso, E.E. & Ekpe, U. J., (1996), Kinetic study of
corrosion and corrosion inhibition of mild steel in
H
2
SO
4
using Carica papaya leaves extract. W.
Afr. J. Bio. Appl. Chem. 41, 21-27.
Ebenso, E.E., Ibok, U. J., Ekpe, U. J., Umoren, S.,
Jackson, E., Abiola, O. K., Oforka, N. C. &
Martinez, S., (2004), Corrosion inhibition studies
of some plant extracts on aluminium in acidic
medium. Trans. of SAEST ,39, 117-123.
El Ouariachi, E., Paolini, J., Bouklah, M., Elidrissi,
A., Bouyanzer, A., Hammouti, B., Desjobert, J-
M. & Costa, J., (2010), Adsorption properties of
Rosmarinus officinalis oil as greencorrosion
inhibitors on C38 steel in 0.5 M H
2
SO
4
, Acta
Metall. Sin.(Engl. Lett.) February, 23(1), 13-20.
El-Etre A.Y., Abdallah M. & El-Tantawy Z.E., (2005),
Corrosion inhibition of some metals using
lawsonia extract. Corros. Sci., 47, 385-395.
Farina, C.A., Faita, G. & Olivani, F. (2004),
Electrochemical Behaviour of Iron in Methanol
and Dimethylformamide solution,Corrosion
Science (18), 463-479.
Hammouti, B.; Aouniti, A.; Taleb, M.; Brighli, M
&Kertit, S.; L, (1995), Methionine methyl ester
hydrochlorid as corrosion inhibitor of iron in 1M
HCl, Corrosion, 51, 411-416.
Kliskic, M., Radosevic, J., Gudic, S. & Katalinic, V.,
(2000). Acqueous extracts of Rosmarines
officinalis L as corrosion inhibitor of Al-Mg alloys
corrosion in chloride solution, J. Appl.
Electrochem. 30, 823-823.
Murlidharan, S.; Iyer, S. V.; (1997), The influence of
N-heterocyclics on corrosion inhibition and
hydrogen permeation through mild steel in acidic
solutions, Anti-Corros. Methods Mater. 44, 100-
106,.
Okafor, P.C., Ikpi, M.E., Uwah, I.E., Ebenso, E.E.,
Ekpe, U.J. & Umoren, S.A., (2008), Inhibitory
action of phyllanthus amarus extract on the
corrosion of mild steel in acid media,Corros. Sci.
50, 2310-2317.
Peter C. Okafor, Eno E. Ebenso & Udofot J. Ekpe,
(2010), Azadirachta Indica Extracts as Corrosion
Inhibitor for Mild Steel in Acid Medium, Int. J.
Electrochem. Sci., 5, 978 993.
Quraishi, M. A.; Khan, M. A. W. & Ajmal, M.; (1996)
Influence of some thiazole derivatives on the
corrosion of mild steel in hydrochloric acid, Anti-
Corros. Methods Mater., 43 (5), 5-8.
Saratha R., Priya S.V. & Thilagavathy P., (2009),
Investigation of Citrus aurantiifolia Leaves
Extract as Corrosion Inhibitor for Mild Steel in
1M HCl, E-Journal of Chemistry, 6(3), 785-795.
Saratha. R & Meenakshi. R, (2010), Corrosion
inhibitor-A plant extract, Der Pharma Chemica,
2(1): 287-294.
Schmitt G, (1994), Inhibitors for chemical cleaning
treatment in corrosion inhibitors, Working Party
Report II; Inst. of Materials, London, 64-91.
Umoren S.A., Obot I. B., Ebenso E. E., Okafor P. C.,
Ogbobe O. & Oguzie E. E., (2006), Gum arabic
as a potential corrosion inhibitor for aluminium in
alkaline medium and its adsorption
characteristics , Anti-Corros. Meth. Mater. 53,
277-282.