Natural polysaccharide polymers (Fig. 2), such as chitin (the main component of hard shells in shrimp and beetles), chitosan (deacetylated chitin), starch, as well as lignin and lignin fibers, are key research objects for the application of corrosion inhibitors and have achieved good research results. The corrosion inhibition effect of polysaccharides is directly related to their adsorption effect on metals, which hinders the entry of corrosive active ingredients into the metal surface. They are environmentally friendly macromolecular corrosion inhibitors with chemical stability and biodegradability (Raja et al. 2013). These active ingredients that inhibit metal corrosion are mainly extracted from natural resources and have the characteristics of low cost, renewability, and easy availability (Rahim et al. 2008). There is a lot of interest in naturally occurring compounds because they improve the environmental performance of the product, making it more in line with environmental requirements, have infinitesimal/reduced risk of contamination. Table 1 summarizes the reported literature on natural polymers as metal corrosion inhibitors.
2.1 Starch
Starch is a high molecular weight carbohydrate formed by the polymerization of glucose molecules. It can be regarded as a high polymer of glucose and is also one of the important sugars for humans and animals. It can be composed of branched and straight chains composed of multiple monosaccharide molecules. Starch has extremely stable chemical properties, making it a very durable substance in nature. Natural starches also have anti-corrosion effects on metals. Rosliza et al. (2010) They studied the use of cassava starch as a corrosion inhibitor to improve the corrosion resistance of AA6061 alloy in seawate with the efficiency of 93% at starch concentration of 1000 ppm.
However, molecular starch has low solubility and surface adhesion and therefore has not been widely used. Physical or chemical modification of them can improve their corrosion protection. Deng et al. (2021) have grafted acrylamide (AA) with cassava starch. The results showed that the efficiency was 90.6% of 1.0 g/L CS-AAGC as corrosion inhibition in 1.0 M H3PO4 . Table 1 summarizes other corrosion inhibition experiments of starch and its derived polymers. There is a lot of scope for enhancing the corrosion inhibition properties of starch by selecting more effective chemical modification and compounding methods.
2.2 Cellulose
Cellulose is the most abundant natural polymer compound, and its production raw materials come from wood, cotton, wheat straw, reed, mulberry bark and sugarcane bagasse. Natural cellulose has little corrosion inhibiting effect on metals. Due to its limited solubility in polar solvents, cellulose usually needs to be chemically modified by adding functional groups (Rajeswari et al. 2013). Solomon et al. (2010) studied the inhibition properties of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) on carbon steel in sulfuric acid medium. The results showed that at 30°C, the corrosion inhibition efficiency of 0.5 g/L CMC was 64.8%. Sobhi et al. (2018) studied the non-toxic green corrosion inhibitor methyl hydroxyethyl cellulose on copper. The corrosion inhibition efficiency reached 90.29% at 4 g/L in 1 M HCl solution. Gan et al. (2018) synthesized boric acid aminated citric acid cellulose (BACC) inhibitor from bagasse cellulose with citric acid, diethanolamine and boric acid. The corrosion inhibition efficiency for A3 steel reached 88.33% at 200 mg L-1. Al Kiey et al. (2021) synthesized cellulose tetrazolium (CTZ) (Fig. 3.) on carbon steel in 1 M HCl medium and CTZ had the highest efficiency of 94.2% (100 ppm).
Although the corrosion inhibition performance of modified cellulose has been improved, it is still not sufficient to meet the industrial requirements for corrosion inhibitors. Cellulose can synergistically act with halogenated ions and other synergists to improve performance. Arukalam et al. (2014) studied the corrosion inhibition effect of hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) with halide additives on mild steel and reached 92.74% with 2 g/L of HEC and 0.5 g/L of KI in 0.5 M H2SO4. Thus, cellulose in combination with the synergistic effect is improved over that of a single cellulose corrosion inhibitor.
2.3 Chitosan
Chitosan is a polysaccharide compound obtained by N-deacetylation of chitin. Chitin, chitosan, and cellulose have similar molecular structures in their main chains. Cellulose is a hydroxyl group at the C2 position, while chitosan is an amino substituted group at the C2 position. In addition to its biodegradability, cell affinity, and related biological effects similar to other natural products, chitosan also has its unique properties, especially chitosan containing free amino groups, which is the only alkaline substance in natural polysaccharides. Chitosan can effectively improve the adhesion and corrosion inhibition properties of chitosan derivatives by introducing polar functional groups, making it an environmentally friendly corrosion inhibitor.
Zhang et al. (2023) studied two chitosan derivatives, namely N-phenylthiourea chitosan (CS-PT) and N-phenyl-O-benzylthiourea chitosan (CS-PT-Bn). The experimental results showed that the inhibition rates of CS-PT and CS-PT-Bn at 100mg/L were 98.4% and 98.5%, respectively. Zhang et al. (2023) reported chitosan derivatives with different degrees of substitution on mild steel in 1 M HCl and showed a good inhibition performance with 97.01% at 200 mg/L. The functionalization of chitosan is a powerful way to effectively improve the protective properties of chitosan.
2.4 Pectin
Pectin is usually extracted from citrus and apples. The ability of pectin to reduce metal corrosion is due to the presence of carboxyl (-COOH) and carboxymethyl (-COOCH3), which makes it a green corrosion inhibitor with corrosive properties in different media (Chauhan et al. 2012).
Fiori-Bimbi et al. (2015) studied pectin extracted from lemon peel as an environmentally friendly mild steel corrosion inhibitor in hydrochloric acid solution. The results showed that the highest corrosion inhibition efficiency of 94.2% was achieved at a concentration of 2.0 g L-1. Abou-Elseoud et al. (2021) studied pectin extracted from beet pulp under acidic conditions by enzymatic or acid digestion. At 1.0 g/L, the inhibition efficiencies reached a maximum of 91.5% and 93.9% for acid- and enzyme-extracted pectin, respectively. The corrosion inhibition effects of pectins from different sources and different extraction methods are not the same. Modification of pectin can improve its corrosion inhibition properties.
2.5 Exudate gums
The evolution of natural tree resin as an effective corrosion inhibitor due to its unique chemical composition has attracted much attention in the field of corrosion. Depending on the composition, gum can be dissolved in water or absorb water to form a gel. Barrodi et al. (2023) tudied the corrosion protection performance of xanthan gum (TG) and ceftriaxone (Cef) for mild steel in hydrochloric acid solution. The maximum inhibition efficiency of 98.1% was achieved when the concentration of TG-Cef was 250 ppm. As a non-toxic and non-hazardous polymer corrosion inhibitor with good surface covering ability and retardation efficiency, exudate gum has great potential in the field of corrosion inhibitors.
2.6 Plant polysaccharides
Currently, choosing low-cost and eco-friendly corrosion inhibitors have been combined and formed the main research trend. The polysaccharides contain functional groups with anticorrosive properties. Their electronegativity allows such corrosion inhibitors to isolate the corrosive media by adsorbing on the metal surface to form a barrier layer. Liu et al. (2022) extracted mushroom polysaccharide (LNT) to study the corrosion inhibition properties. When the concentration was 100 mg/L in 1 M HCl, its corrosion inhibition on Q235 steel reached 92.66%. Mobin et al. (2017) studied plantain polysaccharides on carbon steel in 1 M HCl solution and reached to a maximum of 93.54% at 1000 ppm. When selecting plant corrosion inhibitor materials, factors such as plant species, cost and material sources must be considered. At the same time, various plant extraction techniques will produce different chemical active ingredients, which will affect the corrosion inhibition effect. Therefore, choosing low-cost and efficient plant polysaccharide corrosion inhibitors is an important issue.