Experimental and theoretical insights into Artemisia Stems aqueous extract as a sustainable and eco–friendly corrosion inhibitor for mild steel in 1 M HCl environment

The present research demonstrates an innovative investigation of environmentally friendly mild steel (M-steel) corrosion inhibition using the artemisia stems aqueous extract (ASAEx) as an inhibitor in hydrochloric acid 1 M. The standard extraction technique of hydrodistillation was used for producing the aqueous solutions of ASAEx. To assess the ratios of the chemical components, phytochemical screening was used to identify the stems of this plant. We used a variety of methods and techniques in our research on corrosion inhibition, including weight loss measures, surface analysis methods like XPS and SEM/EDS, electrochemical testing like PDP and EIS, as well as computational lead compound evaluation. Maximum inhibitory efficacy was achieved with 400 mg/L ASAEx in 1 M HCl at 303 K, i.e. 90