Antiscalant properties of Herniaria glabra aqueous solution

Abstract Chemical antiscalants are usually used to control scale depositions, a major concern in industry. Some of these products may be harmful towards environment or toxic for humans, so environmentally friendly antiscalant are needed. In this respect, plant extracts can be used as new green antiscalant agents. In this work, stock aqueous solution of Herniaria glabra ( H. glabra ) was obtained by infusion. H. glabra is used in traditional medicine to treat or prevent urolithiasis; it could be an interesting candidate as a green antiscaling agent. The properties of H. glabra towards CaCO 3 formation were tested by using chronoamperometry and Fast Controlled Precipitation methods. An n -butanol solution was used to partition the aqueous solution of H. glabra , yielding a polar compounds-free fraction. This fraction was also studied by chronoamperometry and Fast Controlled Precipitation methods. The results showed a better inhibition efficiency towards CaCO 3 precipitation for the n -butanol fraction compared to the crude H. glabra solution.