Inhibition potential of silver-gold nanoparticles on mild steel in 3.5% NaCl solution

Abstract

This study investigates the corrosion behaviour of silver-gold nanoparticles as an inhibitor on the degradation of mild steel in 3.5% NaCl (saline environment) using gravimetric analysis and potentiodynamic measurement. The inhibitor Ag-AuNPs was synthesized from Kola nut pod. Five different concentrations of the Ag-AuNPs solution (0, 5, 10, and 20 μg/ml) were added to the saline environment. The gravimetric result showed that inhibition efficiency of 83.33% was the highest at 20 μg/ml of Ag-AuNPs inhibitor concentration. The Tafel polarization result showed that the solution with 20 μg/ml of Ag-AuNPs had the highest inhibition efficiency of 99.465%. At 0 μg/ml of Ag-AuNps, the surface morphologies of the mild steel sample did not show the existence of Ag-AuNps constituent in the saline environment containing the nanoparticles. The outcome showed that the saline environment with 15 and 20 μg/ml of Ag-AuNPs could successfully limit the corrosion of the mild steel.