Combination of practical and theoretical measurements of albumin egg as an eco-friendly inhibitor for copper corrosion in alkaline solutions

Utilizing environmentally acceptable substances as inhibitors of metal corrosion is one of the most important strategies to reduce corrosion. In alkaline solutions (1.0 M KOH), the influence of albumin egg as a green corrosion inhibitor for copper was studied via a mix of experimental and theoretical investigations. Cyclic voltammetry (CV), open circuit potential (OCP), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), potentiodynamic polarization (PDP), AFM, and SEM/EDX methods were all utilized to examine the inhibitory effect of albumin egg. By increasing the amount of albumin egg in the corrosive solution, the inhibition efficiency is increased. The albumin egg is a highly effective cathodic type inhibitor, according to electrochemical tests, with an inhibition efficiency of up to 94%. It also follows the Langmuir isotherm during adsorption. Investigations using SEM/EDX and AFM show that the albumin egg can create an adsorption layer on the surface enabling the shielding of the copper surface from harmful ions. In order to better understand the molecular structure of the albumin egg and its inhibitory action against corrosion, computational and molecular dynamics simulation techniques were also employed for calculating the electronic characteristics of inhibitor molecules. Calculations were made for total energy (TE), change in total energy (DET), energy gap (ΔE), E(LUMO), E(HOMO), dipole moment (D), and softness (δ). Utilizing the Monte Carlo simulation, the mechanism of albumin egg adsorption on the surface of Cu was investigated. The theoretical outcomes were found to confirm the empirical results.