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Green colloidal composites from Putranjiva roxburghii wall extract (PRWE) for the prevention of mild steel corrosion in an acidic medium of 1.0 M HCl
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  • Published: 19 March 2026

Green colloidal composites from Putranjiva roxburghii wall extract (PRWE) for the prevention of mild steel corrosion in an acidic medium of 1.0 M HCl

  • Ashish Sihmar1,
  • Suresh Kumar2,
  • Humira Assad3,
  • Ravi Kumar1,
  • Hemant Tanwar1 &
  • …
  • Hariom Dahiya1 

Scientific Reports , Article number:  (2026) Cite this article

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We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.

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  • Chemistry
  • Materials science

Abstract

Despite the fact that various studies have proved the efficacy of plant-based extracts as green corrosion inhibitors, the possibility of using unwanted and invasive species as sustainable corrosion inhibitors is still underexplored. In the current study, Putranjiva roxburgii extract (PRWE), which is an abundantly available weed, is, explored as a value-added, eco-friendly corrosion inhibitor to mild steel in a 1.0 M HCl acidic environment. The electrochemical method, the gravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the computational evaluation were used to analyze the PRWE corrosion inhibition performance. These findings indicated the presence of a concentration-related inhibition behaviour, with PRWE being a mixed-type inhibitor, as shown by anodic and cathodic polarization slopes. The corrosion inhibition potential of PRWE was systematically assessed via potentiodynamic polarisation (PDP), Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and weight loss (WL). PRWE exhibited efficiency of 95.57% as determined by EIS and 97.51% as obtained via WL at 298 K that decreased as the temperature was elevated. Increases in charge transfer resistance (Rct) and polarization resistance (Rp) and a reduction in the constant phase element value, confirming the presence of a protective adsorbed layer over the mild steel surface. Theoretical computations also indicated the vigorous adsorption of PRWE components on the steel surface, characterized by a low energy gap (ΔE), which showed good agreement with experimental results. Based on all the above findings, the present work presents weeds as a low-cost, low-utilized, sustainable source of corrosion inhibitors, which have the dual advantage of resisting corrosion and environmental management.

Data availability

Data supporting the findings of this work are provided in the paper. All other raw data that support this paper and other findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Data and materials will be shared with no restrictions on the availability of raw or processed data via a material transfer agreement.

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Acknowledgements

Mr. Ashish Sihmar admiringly acknowledges the “University Grants Commission (UGC)” New Delhi, India for financially aiding in the form of senior research fellowship (SRF), (Award No : 201610223022) to accomplish this research work.

Funding

Mr. Ashish Sihmar admiringly acknowledges the “University Grants Commission (UGC)” New Delhi, India for financially aiding in the form of senior research fellowship (SRF), (Award No: 201610223022) to accomplish this research work.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana, 124001, India

    Ashish Sihmar, Ravi Kumar, Hemant Tanwar & Hariom Dahiya

  2. Department of Chemistry, Chaudhary Devi Lal, Sirsa, Haryana, 125055, India

    Suresh Kumar

  3. Department of Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, 400076, India

    Humira Assad

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  1. Ashish Sihmar
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  2. Suresh Kumar
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Contributions

Ashish Sihmar : Conceptulization, Investigation, Writing-Original draft, Visualization, Software, Data Curation, Validation, Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing-review & editing.Suresh kumar : Formal analysis.Humira Assad : Writing-review & editing.Ravi Kumar : Visualization.Hemant Tanwar : Visualization.Hariom Dahiya : Supervision, Resources, Writing-review & editing, Project administration.

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Correspondence to Hariom Dahiya.

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Sihmar, A., Kumar, S., Assad, H. et al. Green colloidal composites from Putranjiva roxburghii wall extract (PRWE) for the prevention of mild steel corrosion in an acidic medium of 1.0 M HCl. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-43481-0

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  • Received: 07 January 2026

  • Accepted: 04 March 2026

  • Published: 19 March 2026

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-43481-0

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Keywords

  • Mild steel
  • Corrosion
  • Purtanjiva roxburghii
  • Mixed adsorption
  • Inhibition efficiency
  • Density functional theory
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