Influence of Cigarette Butt Extract on the Suppression of Metal Corrosion

Cigarette butts are an increasing environmental burden worldwide, and the quantities discarded each year could continue to rise. The chemical composition of cigarette butts, which comprises about 4000 different toxic chemicals, as well as their persistence in the environment and their potential negative effects pose a major threat to the environment as they regularly enter aquatic habitats and endanger water supplies and aquatic species. One effective way to reduce pollution is to recycle cigarette butts. The aim of this study is to evaluate the possibility of using extracts from cigarette butts (filter extract and extract from tobacco residues) as corrosion inhibitors for the Cu10Ni alloy in a 3.5% NaCl solution with a pH of 8 at different temperatures (12 °C, 20 °C and 25 °C). The determination of the electrochemical parameters, i.e., the corrosion behavior of the Cu10Ni alloy in a 3.5% NaCl solution and pH of 8, with and without modification of the alloy surface by cigarette butt extracts was tested using electrochemical measurements (electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and linear and potentiodynamic polarization methods). The surface properties of the Cu10Ni alloy modified with cigarette butt extracts were evaluated by goniometry, SEM analysis and FTIR spectrophotometry. The modification of the surface of the Cu10Ni alloy with an extract of tobacco residue and a filter extract separated from cigarette butts, whose presence on the surface was confirmed by the surface analysis methods, increased the corrosion resistance of the alloy, indicating that these substances have an inhibitory effect. The better inhibition properties (at all temperatures: 12 °C, 20 °C and 25 °C) were exhibited by the filter extract, and the highest inhibition effect was exhibited by the filter extract at 12 °C.