The Inhibitive Performance of Watermelon Rind on the Corrosion Behavior of Mild Steels in 0.5M H2SO4

Abstract

The watermelon rind extract molecules are used in the inhibition of API 5L steel in 0.5 M H2SO4
solution. Watermelon is an agro waste which is being discarded after the fleshy part has been consumed
which causes environmental pollution. The rind is one of the possible ways for green chemistry and
sustainable of protecting API 5L steel used in petrochemical environments from corrosion. The corrosion
test utilized in this research is weight loss and polarization techniques. The results showed that
watermelon rind is an effective inhibitor in 0.5 M H2SO4. The results showed an optimum inhibition
efficiency of 99.9% at 4% of the inhibitor concentration which is still retained at 5% for the polarization
test. The weight loss experiment shows the highest inhibition efficiency of 84% at 3% of the inhibitor
concentration. The inhibition efficiency could be attributed to the presence of organic compounds and
functional groups present in the extract which was shown with the aid of the elemental analysis,
phytochemical analysis and the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrum.