In this work, the corrosion inhibition of brass was studied using natural plant extract, Camellia sinensis, in 0.1 M Na2SO4 solutions with pH 7 and pH 4. Electrochemical techniques (potentiodynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were applied to study the brass corrosion behavior in presence and absence of the extract. The results indicated that the extract is a very effective corrosion inhibitor for brass corrosion process in both the acidic and neutral media by virtue of adsorption. The inhibition effect increases by time as demonstrated by the EIS monitoring for 120 h. In the blank solution the corrosion process leads to the formation of a dark oxide patina at pH 7 and induces localized corrosion morphology at pH 4. The extract presence can avoid both the dark patina and the pits formation.

Natural extract, Corrosion inhibition, Brass, Cultural artefacts conservation