Crude Extract of Detergent-Like Gleditsia sinensis lam Exhibiting Self-Organization for Protection of Mild Steel in Harsh Hydrochloric Acid Solution: How to Seek Crude Natural Plant Extracts as Green Corrosion Inhibitors

This study proposes a thought to employ detergent-like renewable low-cost crude extract of Gleditsia sinensis lam (GSL) as green corrosion inhibitor for mild steel in HCl solution. Crude Gleditsia sinensis lam extract (GSLE) was gained at mild conditions by simply refluxing in ethanol with a Soxhlet extractor. The target GSLE extract exhibited regular self-organization in mixed solvents of organic solvents/H2O such as ethanol/H2O (v/v, 50/50) at room temperature, which was evidenced by different means including scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and dynamic light scattering. The study demonstrates that the yielded assemblies of the crude extract of GSLE displayed chemical adsorption on the studied mild steel sample surfaces. Furthermore, the formed stable crude extract assemblies of GSL presented outstanding anti-corrosion capability in 1.0 mol/L HCl aqueous solution based on electrochemical measurements including polarization curves and impedance spectroscopy. It is discovered that the maximal corrosion inhibition efficiency could reach approximate 95%. The molecular modeling was performed to acquire the nature of frontier orbitals of the main representative chemical components of crude GSLE for deep understanding of chemical interactions with iron. The results presented herein would guide us to seek sustainable environmentally friendly low-cost detergent-like plant crude extracts for corrosion inhibition of various metals in aggressive acid environments