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. 2025 Jan 11;30(2):272.
doi: 10.3390/molecules30020272.

Investigating the Adsorption and Corrosion Protection Efficacy and Mechanism of Marjoram Extract on Mild Steel in HCl Medium

Malika Sabiha  1 , Younes Kerroum  1 , Maha El Hawary  1 , Maria Boudalia  1   2 , Abdelkbir Bellaouchou  1 , Othmane Hammani  3   4 , Hatem M A Amin  5   6
Affiliations

Investigating the Adsorption and Corrosion Protection Efficacy and Mechanism of Marjoram Extract on Mild Steel in HCl Medium

Malika Sabiha et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

In recent years, the anti-corrosive properties of natural extracts as environmentally friendly inhibitors have gained considerable interest. This study evaluates the potential of Marjoram (Origanum majorana L.) essential oil (OML), collected from Salé, Morocco, as a corrosion inhibitor for mild steel in 1 M HCl medium. The protection performance of OML was assessed using various electrochemical techniques, including potentiodynamic polarization (PDP) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), as well as the weight loss method. The influence of OML concentration and temperature on the inhibition performance were investigated. OML demonstrated pronounced inhibitory benefits via increasing the corrosion resistance of mild steel in the corrosive HCl solution, thus reducing the corrosion rate to 0.11 mg cm-2 h-1 and increasing the inhibition efficiency to 87.1% at an inhibitor concentration of 500 ppm. PDP confirmed that the inhibitor works as a mixed-type inhibitor with cathodic supremacy. EIS revealed that the charge transfer mechanism is the main controlling factor for the corrosion process. The thermodynamic parameters suggested a key role of OML physisorption in inhibition, following the Langmuir isotherm. Importantly, SEM and EDX analyses suggested the formation of a protective layer of the extract onto the steel surface, which shields the surface from corrosive species. This is owed to the functional group-rich phytochemicals of OML. Therefore, the development of bio-based corrosion inhibitors is not only a step towards more eco-friendly industrial practices, but also meets the growing demand for sustainable materials in a world with constrained resources.

Keywords: EIS; adsorption; corrosion inhibition; essential oil; green inhibitors; low-carbon steel; plant extract.

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Conflict of interest statement

Authors declare that they have no known conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Potentiodynamic polarization curves of mild steel in 1 M HCl using different OML concentrations at 303 K.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Nyquist plots (a) and Bode plots (b) of mild steel in 1 M HCl using various OML concentrations at 303 K. Inset of (a) is the equivalent electrical circuit used to fit EIS data.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Polarization curves of mild steel in 1 M HCl at different temperatures in the absence (a) and presence of 500 ppm OML (b) inhibitor.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The different Arrhenius plots for mild steel in 1 M HCl (a) and the presence of 500 ppm OML (b).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Langmuir adsorption isotherm of OML inhibitor on mild steel at 303 K.
Figure 6
Figure 6
SEM micrograph of the mild steel surface examined prior to (a) and after 24 h of immersion in (b) 1 M HCl solution and (c) solution containing 500 ppm OML.
Figure 7
Figure 7
EDX spectra of mild steel surface examined prior to (a) and after 24 h of immersion (b) in 1 M HCl solution and (c) HCl containing 500 ppm OML. Inset shows the elemental analysis data.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Schematic showing the adsorption of OML extract components on steel surface and protection against corrosion.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Chemical structure of the major components of OML oil extract.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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