SUSTAINABILITY OF ALUMINIUM ALLOY AA8011 STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY USING Moringa Olifera LEAVES EXTRACT
NWADINOBI CHIBUNDO PRINCEWILL *
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Abia State University, Uturu, Nigeria.
MEJEH KINGSLEY IKECHUKWU
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Abia State Polytechnic, Aba. Abia State, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Inhibition of corrosion of aluminium alloy AA8011in 1.0 M Hydrochloric acid (HCl)by Moringa oleifera (MO) leaves extract has been studied using weight loss and electrochemical techniques. A summary of corrosion rate at different concentrations over a range of time proved 0.5g/L concentration to give the least rate of corrosion for this grade of aluminium alloy. It was inferred from the obtained results that Moringa oleifera has inhibitory effect on aluminium alloy corrosion. In addition, the Nyquist plots of aluminium alloy for different concentrations of Moringa oliefera leaves extract were obtained through the Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) method. The electrochemical impedance measurements confirmed the inhibitive nature of Moringa oleifera leaves extract on the corrosion of aluminium alloy as the corrosion current density decreased with increased in concentration of the extract. Furthermore, for potentiodynamic polarization measurement of aluminium alloy, Tafel polarization technique results showed that the extract acted as a mixed type inhibitor. Based on the obtained results, Moringa oleifera leaves extract is a good inhibitor of aluminium corrosion in acidic medium. Hence, the implementation of this research findings will account for effective management of manufacturing sectors where metals such as aluminium alloys are in use.
Keywords: Aluminium alloy AA8011, Moringa oleifera, electrochemical analysis, tafel polarization technique, weight loss.