Fig. 9: Surface morphology and roughness analysis of desalinated specimens under different inhibitor treatments.

Each pair of (a–d) presents, from left to right, the surface profile and the corresponding cross-sectional roughness profile from the central region of the specimen. The central cross-section is shaded yellow. The red curve shows the arithmetic average roughness (Ra), and the blue curve shows the maximum height (Ry). a) Control specimen. b FCN-treated specimen. c Fe(II)-mTA-treated specimen. d Fe(III)-mTA-treated specimen.