Exploring the performance of Coriandrum sativum extract as an effective corrosion inhibitor for mild steel in a 2.0MH3PO4 medium, and its sustainable application in the eco-friendly removal of heavy metals

This research investigated the performance of coriander seeds, for the first time, in two critical phenomena: wastewater treatment and corrosion inhibition in acidic environments. On one hand, the aqueous extracts from Coriandrum sativum seeds (CE) were evaluated for mild steel corrosion inhibition in a 2.0 M phosphoric acid medium using several techniques such as phytochemical analysis (GC-MS), potentiodynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDAX) and theoretical analyses, including DFT calculations and Molecular Dynamic Simulations, further elucidated the major chemical components. First, the phytochemical analysis has proved that CE contains heteroatoms. Second, the electrochemical results indicate that CE behaves as a mixed type inhibitor and the corrosion reaction is controlled by charge transfer process. Finally, The theoretical calculations confirmed that the active compounds of CE can be adsorbed on the Fe (1 1 0) surface through physical patterns and by sharing charges with iron to form coordinate bonds. The acquired results have shown a strong correlation between corrosion inhibition efficiency that was about 93 %, SEM-EDAX and DFT parameters. On the other hand, the study examined coriander seeds (CS) in powder form as a removal of copper ions in aqueous solutions through Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy and Inductively Coupled Plasma analysis. The parametric study was effectuated by establishing the effect of contact time, adsorbent mass, solution pH and stirring speed. The removal rate was about 79 %. Regeneration studies showed that CS could be reused for five cycles without significant loss of effectiveness. SEM-EDAX analysis has proved the studied process.