Unveiling green corrosion inhibitor of Aloe vera extracts for API 5L steel in seawater environment

This study evaluated Aloe vera extract as a green inhibitor to prevent corrosion in seawater environments. A. vera extract was produced by maceration with methanol–water at room temperature. Electrochemical techniques were used to evaluate the corrosion inhibitor effectiveness of the A. vera extract. The morphology of the corrosion products was analyzed by FE-SEM equipped with EDS and AFM. FT-IR and LCMS characterized the functional and structural groups in this extract. The electrochemical measurements show that A. vera extract could effectively reduce the corrosion of API 5L steel in seawater environments. Inhibition efficiency (IE) increases with increasing concentration. Optimal corrosion inhibition efficiency of around 83.75% (PDP) and 88.60% (EIS) was obtained by adding 300 mg L−1 of extract at 310 K. Furthermore, the higher the concentration of A. vera extract, the greater the activation energy (Ea), with the highest activation energy being 48.24 kJ mol−1 for the concentration of 300 mg L−1. Conversely, increasing the temperature and exposure duration reduces the corrosion inhibition efficiency (IE) values; the best exposure period was 30 min with 88.34% IE by a concentration of 300 mg L−1 at 300 K. This corrosion inhibition is achieved by the adsorption process of A. vera bioactive on metal surfaces with a mixed inhibitor through a physisorption-chemisorption mechanism. This finding was confirmed by the smoother surface morphology of the steel treated with A. vera extract than without. This unveiling investigation found that A. vera extract has the potential to be an environmentally friendly corrosion inhibitor in the seawater environment.