Inhibition of tinplate corrosion in 0.5 M H2C2O4 medium by Mentha pulegium essential oil

Abstract

Considering the great interest of the application of secondary metabolites of medicinal and aromatic plants in several fields, including the control of metal corrosion in different environments and in order to minimize the use of synthetic inhibitors, which is the objective of our research. In this work, we are interested by identifying the chemical profiling of Mentha pulegium essential oil and evaluating its effect as a new solution against corrosion in tinned cans. For this purpose, the inhibitory effect of Mentha pulegium essential oil against tinplate corrosion in 0.5 M H2C2O4 medium was studied using weight loss, potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurement techniques. The CG and CG-Ms show that the Pulegone and the Menthone are the main compounds of Mentha pulegium essential oil. The weight loss measurement and electrochemical tests show that Mentha pulegium essential oil exhibits a good anticorrosion effect with an inhibition efficiency of 80% at 4 g/L–1. This effect could be attributed to the adsorption of Mentha pulegium essential oil compound on metal surface, which is confirmed by scanning electron microscopy spectroscopy and energy dispersive X-rays (SEM-EDX) visualization.