An AFM Study of the Surface Propriety and Corrosion Inhibition on Carbon Steel in Acidic Media Meriem Zerroug, Hana Ferkous, Manelle Radjai, Mohamed Aymen Chaouch, Anis Madaci, Hatem Majdoub, and Abderrazak Bouzid Keywords AFM Á Inhibitor Á Weight loss Á Carbon steel Á Polarization Á RMS 1 Introduction Atomic Force Microscopy is undoubtedly the most adapt- able and dominant microscopic technology for studying nanoscale samples. The study of corrosion and corrosion inhibition have been coupled with the use of atomic force microscopy (Philippe Marcus 2006) to investigate roughness characteristics of the metal surface by several research groups such as (Pandarinathan et al. 2014; Qhatan 2016). The aim of this study was to explore the ability of polysaccharides extracted from nopal pulp (PPUN) to inhibit corrosion when they are adsorbed on carbon steel by weight loss method and electrochemical test. Finally, we also aimed at observing the surface after use of the inhibitor by AFM. 2 Materials and Methods Preparation of the Plant Extract. Fresh prickly pear cladodes were collected in the area of Monastir. These cladodes were firstly washed with tap water and the spines were removed manually. Second, cladodes were cut into small pieces and blended with distilled water using a mixing machine. Thereby, the pulp’s juices underwent ultrasonic treatment for 2 min followed by a mechanical agitation for 2 h at 40 °C. The mixture was then filtered, centrifuged and dia- lyzed using membranes with a molecular weight cut-off of 14KDa. Finally, the dialysate was freeze-dried to get an extract from pulp (PPUN). Preparation of Carbon Steel Specimen Specimens of carbon steel with chemical composition of (wt%) C 0.38%, Mn 0.66%, Si 0.27%, Ni 0.02%, Cr 0.21%, Mo 0.02% were cut into coupons of size 5 cm  0.2 cm  0.2 cm. The samples were polished with abrasive paper (220–2000 grit size), rinsed with distilled water degreased with acetone then stored in a desiccator for the application of the weight loss method and the AFM investigation. For electrochemical studies, cylindrical carbon steel was used as a working electrode, with an exposed area of 0.5 cm 2 while the rest was covered. Weight loss method The carbon steel sheets were weighed and immersed in the corrosive solution with and without inhibitor (0– 400 mg/L) for different times of 1, 2, 3, 7, 15 and 30 days. The coupons were weighed once the time has elapsed. Electrochemical tests A Preliminary Study of the concentration effect showed that the inhibition ef ficiency was stable and reached a higher value at 25 ppm. M. Zerroug (&) Á A. Bouzid Laboratoire des matériaux et Systèmes électroniques, Université El-Bachir El-Ibrahimi Bordj Bou Arreridj, Bordj Bou Arreridj, Algeria e-mail: sc.mariem@hotmail.fr H. Ferkous Laboratoire de Physique Des Matériaux, Rayonnement et Nanostructures, Université El-Bachir El-Ibrahimi Bordj Bou Arreridj, Bordj Bou Arreridj, Algeria M. Radjai Laboratoires de génie des procédés catalytiques, Université Ferhat Abbass Sétif-01, Sétif, Algeria M. A. Chaouch Á H. Majdoub Faculté des sciences de Monastir, Laboratoiredes Interfaces et des Matériaux Avancés (LIMA), Université de Monastir, BD. de l’environnement, 5019 Monastir, Tunisia A. Madaci Département sciences de la matière, Université El-Bachir El-Ibrahimi Bordj Bou Arreridj, Bordj Bou Arreridj, Algeria © Springer International Publishing AG 2018 A. Kallel et al. (eds.), Recent Advances in Environmental Science from the Euro-Mediterranean and Surrounding Regions, Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70548-4_390 1337