Gunawarman -

By Yuli Yetri, Gunawarman, Emriadi and Novesar Jamarun

Corrosion control for metals has technical, economical, environmental, and aesthetical importance. The use of corrosion inhibitors from natural product is one of the best ways to slow the rate of corrosion of metals and alloys. The use of extract inhibitors from natural product is the best alternative because it does not contain heavy metals and is nontoxic, environmentally friendly, biodegradable, easy to obtain, inexpensive, and available in large quantities. The organic compounds contained in the extracts of natural products such as tannins, amino acids, phenolics, and alkaloids contain heteroatomic groups, which can inhibit corrosion rate and are interesting to study. With the development of science and technology, many methods are used to protect the corrosion, such as electroplating and coating, and organic inhibitor shows real promise such as Theobroma cacao peel extract. Although substantial research has been devoted to corrosion inhibition by plant extracts, reports on the detailed mechanisms of the adsorption process and identification of the active ingredient are still scarce. The addition of polar extract of cacao peel into a solution of HCl 1.5 M is very effective to reduce the attack surface corrosion on mild steel and can maintain its mechanical properties. This chapter consciously restricts itself mainly to plant materials, especially Theobroma cacao peel extract, as green corrosion inhibitors.

Part of the book: Corrosion Inhibitors, Principles and Recent Applications