Corrosion inhibition efficiency of expired antimalarial drugs on stainless steels in acidic and basic media

Abstract

The corrosion inhibition behaviour of 304L and 316L stainless steels (SS) in acidic (1 M Hydrochloric Acid, HCl) and basic (1 M Sodium Hydroxide, NaOH) media was investigated using expired antimalarial drugs, Lufart Double Strength (DS) and Lonart DS as potential green inhibitors. Potentiodynamic polarization measurements were used to evaluate the Inhibition Efficiencies (IE) of the inhibitors on each SS in each medium. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) was used to characterize the steel samples and Fourier Transfer Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy was used to predict the major constituents of the drug samples. The findings suggest that the expired antimalarial drugs contribute significantly to corrosion inhibition, offering an eco-friendly alternative to conventional inhibitors while providing a novel approach to pharmaceutical waste management. This study highlights the potential of these expired drugs as effective corrosion inhibitors for stainless steels, proposing their use as a sustainable solution in corrosion control applications.

Keywords

• Corrosion inhibition
• Expired antimalarial drugs
• Stainless steel
• Potentiodynamic polarization
• Green corrosion inhibitors