Aqueous Agro-Industrial Waste as Corrosion Inhibitor for Stainless Steel AISI 304 in Acidic Media

The use of corrosion inhibitors is one of the most common methods to combat acid corrosion. The current studies aim to apply natural products as corrosion inhibitors, once the most used compounds are mostly toxic to the environment and to humans. The present paper purposes the application of an aqueous extract of agro-industrial waste (AEAW) to inhibit the corrosion of stainless steel AISI 304 in sulfuric acid. Gravimetric and electrochemical experiments were performed. The gravimetric experiments revealed that the extract acts as an inhibitor for stainless steel, showing inhibitory efficiency up to 81.6%. The electrochemical tests show that the AEAW makes the steel surface more noble. The extract acts by adsorption in the metallic surface, following a Temkin isotherm. The results indicate that the AEAW is a promising substitute of conventional organic compounds as a corrosion inhibitor to AISI 304 stainless steel in sulfuric acid.