An effective and biodegradable Ficus tikoua leaves extract was studied as a corrosion inhibitor for carbon steel in hydrochloric acid. Systematic electrochemical experiments and morphological characterization were carried out to investigate the properties of the corrosion inhibitor. Meanwhile, quantum chemical calculations were performed to aid further understanding of the electrochemical mechanism. The electrochemical results reveal that the extract inhibitors act as a mixed-type with an inhibition efficiency up to 95.8% at 298 K. Moreover, this extract shows good inhibory activity at a wide range of temperatures and the corresponding results were further confirmed by morphological analysis. The chemical formulae of these major components are fully optimized in the DFT with B3LYP in the gas phase and the base set is 6-311++G (d, p).
Keywords: Carbon steel; Corrosion inhibitor; Electrochemical test; Quantum chemical calculation.
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