A combined computational & electrochemical exploration of the Ammi visnaga L. extract as a green corrosion inhibitor for carbon steel in HCl solution

Natural-based corrosion inhibitors have gained great research interest thanks to their low cost and higher performance. In this work, the chemical composition of the methanolic extract of Ammi visnaga umbels (AVU) was evaluated by gas chromatography (GC) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) and applied for corrosion inhibition of carbon steel (CS) in 1.0 mol/L HCl using chemical and electrochemical techniques along with scanning electron microscope (SEM) and theoretical calculations. A total of 46 compounds were identified, representing 89.89% of the overall chemical composition of AVU extract, including Edulisin III (72.88%), Binapacryl (4.32%), Khellin (1.97%), and Visnagin (1.65%). Chemical (Weight loss) and electrochemical (potentiodynamic polarization curves (PPC), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS)) techniques revealed that investigated extract can be used as an effective corrosion inhibitor for carbon steel in 1.0 mol/L HCl solution. At a low dose of 700 ppm, the inhibitory action of AVU extract reached an inhibition efficiency of 84 percent. According to polarization tests, the investigated extract worked as a mixed inhibitor, protecting cathodic and anodic corrosion reactions. The EIS test showed that upon the addition of AVU extract to HCl solution, the polarization resistance increased while the double layer decreased. SEM images showed a protected CS surface in the inhibited solution. Quantum chemical calculations by Density Functional Theory (DFT) for the main components confirmed the major role of heteroatoms and aromatic rings as adsorption sites. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation was used to study the adsorption configuration of the main components on the Fe(1 1 0) surface. Outcomes from this study further confirmed the significant advantage of using plant-based corrosion inhibitors for protecting metals and alloys.