Succinyl amide gemini surfactant from Adenopus breviflorus seed oil: A potential corrosion inhibitor of mild steel in acidic medium

• Succinyl amide gemini surfactant was synthesized using simple reaction mechanism from the seed oil of Adenopus breviflorus.
• The succinyl amide gemini surfactant was applied as corrosion inhibitor of mild steel in 0.5 M HCl via weight loss method.
• The inhibitive mechanism of succinyl amide gemini surfactant was studied by surface properties and SEM pictures.
• The inhibition mechanism was found to be by adsorption.
• The results presented the gemini surfactant as an efficient inhibitor of mild steel corrosion in 0.5 M HCl.

A succinyl amide gemini surfactant was synthesized using simple reaction mechanism from the seed oil of Adenopus breviflorus and applied as corrosion inhibitor of mild steel in 0.5 M HCl via weight loss method. The synthesis was monitored and confirmed using FTIR and NMR. The inhibitive mechanism of succinyl amide gemini surfactant was studied by surface tension, emulsion stability, wetting power and SEM pictures. The adsorption was found to be spontaneous, exothermic and it obeyed Langmuir isotherm with the process being physisorption. The activation energy of the corrosion process increased as the concentration of the succinyl amide gemini surfactant increased with the highest being 135.20 kJ mol−1 at 160 mol/L while the heat of adsorption was −95.25 kJ mol−1 at the same concentration. The result of the corrosion study of mild steel has proved that succinyl amide gemini surfactant from the seed oil of A. breviflorus is an efficient inhibitor of mild steel corrosion in 0.5 M HCl, which compares favourably with other Gemini surfactant systems.