Investigation of orange peel as an inhibitor on the corrosion susceptibility of mild steel

Mild steel is one of the most widely utilized alloys in engineering practice. It has good mechanical properties that endear it to many engineering applications. However, its high susceptibility to corrosion is one of the biggest concerns and threats to its engineering usage. This present work attempted to study the corrosion resistance of a nail made from mild steel in an aggressive medium like sulphuric acid. The study explores the possibility of using Orange Peel Extract (OPE) as an inhibitor in the corrosion solution. The results obtained from the elemental composition analysis of the OPE revealed some metals which could have formed protective oxide layers to slow down corrosion in any environment. However, the addition of the OPE to the corrosive solution in concentrations of 1g/mol and 2g/mol could not mitigate the corrosion attack on the mild steel as expected. The potentiodynamic polarization data and the Open Circuit Potential (OCP) analysis show that the performance of the OPE in the corrosive solution is a function of its concentrations in the solution. These findings formed the basis for the optimization of the OPE concentrations as an inhibitor in a corrosive solution. The images obtained from the scanning electron microscope analysis show severe damage to the surface exposed to the solution. These further depict the high susceptibility characteristics of mild steel to corrosion when exposed to a highly corrosive environment. This study shows that the orange peel extract is a potential as a corrosion inhibitor to mild steel material.