Berberine as a natural source inhibitor for mild steel in 1 M H2SO4

Berberine was abstracted from coptis chinensis and its inhibition efficiency on corrosion of mild steel in 1 M H2SO4 was investigated through weight loss experiment, electrochemical techniques and scanning electronic microscope (SEM) with energy disperse spectrometer (EDS). The weight loss results showed that berbefine is an excellent corrosion inhibitor for mild steel immersed in 1M H2SO4. Potentiodynamic curves suggested that berbefine suppressed both cathodic and anodic processes for its concentrations higher than 1.0 x 10(-4) M and mainly cathodic reaction was suppressed for lower concentrations. The Nyquist diagrams of impedance for mild steel in 1 M H2SO4 containing berbefine with different concentrations showed one capacitive loop, and the polarization resistance increased with the inhibitor concentration rising. A good fit to Flory-Huggins isotherm was obtained between surface coverage degree and inhibitor concentration. The surface morphology and EDS analysis for mild steel specimens in sulfuric acid in the absence and presence of the inhibitor also proved the results obtained by the weight loss and electrochemical experiments. The correlation of inhibition effect and molecular structure of berberine was then discussed by quantum chemistry study. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nicotinic acid as a nontoxic corrosion inhibitor for hot dipped Zn and Zn-Al alloy coatings on steels in diluted hydrochloric acid

The inhibition effect of nicotinic acid for corrosion of hot dipped Zn and Zn-Al alloy coatings in diluted hydrochloric acid was investigated using quantum chemistry analysis, weight loss test, electrochemical measurement, and scanning electronic microscope (SEM) analysis. Quantum chemistry calculation results showed that nicotinic acid possessed planar structure with a number of active centers, and the populations of the Mulliken charge, the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO), and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) were found mainly focused around oxygen and nitrogen atoms, and the cyclic of the benzene as well. The results of weight loss test and electrochemical measurement indicated that inhibition efficiency (IE%) increased with inhibitor concentration, and the highest inhibition efficiency was up to 96.7%. The corrosion inhibition of these coatings was discussed in terms of blocking the electrode reaction by adsorption of the molecules at the active centers on the electrode surface. It was found that the adsorption of nicotinic acid on coating surface followed Langmuir adsorption isotherm with single molecular layer, and nicotinic acid adsorbed on the coating surface probably by chemisorption. Nicotinic acid, therefore, can act as a good nontoxic corrosion inhibitor for hot dipped Zn and Zn-Al alloy coatings in diluted hydrochloric acid solution. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Salt-assisted acid hydrolysis of starch to D-glucose under microwave irradiation

The effect of inorganic salts on the hydrolysis of starch in a microwave field was investigated and it was found that some inorganic salts can effectively accelerate the acid hydrolysis of starch. The yield of D-glucose reached 111 wt% (equal to the theoretical yield). (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.