Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Journal of Bio- and Tribo-Corrosion (2020) 6:118 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40735-020-00405-3 Inhibition of Acid and Bio‑corrosion of Pipeline Steel Using Tabersonine: Experimental, DFT and Molecular Dynamics Simulations Approaches Ekemini Ituen 1,2,3  · Victor Mkpenie 3  · Ekere Ekemini 3  · Samuel Eduok 4  · Lin Yuanhua 1,2  · Onyewuchi Akaranta 5 Received: 18 June 2020 / Revised: 18 July 2020 / Accepted: 5 August 2020 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 Abstract Tabersonine (TAB) is demonstrated as ecofriendly new material that inhibits of pipeline steel corrosion in both acid and microbial (Desulfovibrio sp) environments. At 0.85 mg/mL (2.5 mM) minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), TAB inhib- its bio-corrosion induced by the sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) with efciency of 61.9% and 51.9% at 30 °C and 60 °C, respectively. Also, 10.0 mM TAB is 90.8% and 88.1% efcient in inhibiting corrosion of X80 steel in 1 M HCl at 30 °C and 60 °C, respectively. FTIR, SEM/EDS, local selectivity and adsorption studies at computational level confrm that TAB molecules can provide surface protection by spontaneous physical and chemical adsorption on steel surface via O, N and C=C sites. TAB serves as mixed type inhibitor with dominant infuence on anodic reaction; its addition to the acid solution reduces surface roughness by 46.7%. Instead of using diferent materials for mitigation of microbial and acid induced cor- rosion, TAB can be a cost efective, efcient alternative. Keywords Adsorption · Cell wall · Microbial induced corrosion · EIS · SRB · AFM 1 Introduction The use of hydrochloric acid for pickling, scale wash, well stimulation and other acid treatments in oil and gas produc- tion is not without its attending corrosion problems. Coupled with the metabolic activities of acid producing microorgan- isms such as sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) in the reser- voir, corrosion of steel pipework is inevitable and it reduces materials longevity and cause unexpected failure. It has been reported that acid (especially HCl) induced corrosion constitutes about 70% while microbial induced corrosion constitutes about 20% of corrosion problems encountered in the oilfeld [1–3]. To protect materials and ensure their integrity, corrosion inhibitors (CIs) are often deployed. CIs may be added to drilling mud, completions fuid, acid treat- ment solution or fooding fuid to mitigate the efect of live or spent acid and microbial corrosive attacks [4]. In practice, organic corrosion inhibitors are extensively used to inhibit acid corrosion and they function by adsorb- ing on the surface of steel or other alloys by means of some adsorption sites in their chemical structures [5, 6]. Such sites are reported to include heterocyclic rings, multiple bonds, O, N, S, and P atoms which donate electrons to the empty orbitals of metallic species on the substrate surface [7, 8]. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s40735-020-00405-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Ekemini Ituen ebituen@gmail.com * Lin Yuanhua yhlin28@163.com 1 State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, Sichuan, China 2 School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, Sichuan, China 3 Emerging Materials and Energy Research Group, Department of Chemistry, University of Uyo, Uyo, Nigeria 4 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, University of Uyo, Uyo, Nigeria 5 African Center of Excellence in Oilfeld Chemicals Research, Institute of Petroleum Studies, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria