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Tartaric Acid as a Non-toxic and Environmentally-Friendly Anti-scaling Material for Using in Cooling Water Systems: Electrochemical and Surface Studies

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Abstract

Because of the major limitations in drinking water resources, the industries need to use unprocessed water sources for their cooling systems; these water resources contain major amount of hardening cations. So, mineral scales are formed in cooling water systems during the time and cause major problems. The use of green anti-scaling materials such as carboxylic acids is considered due to their low risks of environmental pollution. In the present work, the scale inhibition performance of tartaric acid as a green organic material was evaluated. Chemical screening tests, cathodic and anodic voltammetry measurements and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy-dispersive x-ray and x-ray diffraction, were used for the evaluation of the scale inhibition performance. The results showed that tartaric acid can prevent calcium carbonate precipitation significantly. The hard water solution with 2.0 mM of tartaric acid indicated the highest scale inhibition efficiency (ca. 68%). The voltammetry, EIS and FESEM results verified that tartaric acid can form smooth and homogeneous film on steel surface through formation of Fe(III)-tartrate complexes and retard the local precipitation of calcium carbonate deposits.

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Acknowledgments

This project was carried out in “Electrochemistry Research Laboratory” of “University of Tabriz” based on the agreement between the authors and “Iran National Science Foundation (INSF)” with Grant No. of “92003158.” Therefore, the authors would like to thank “University of Tabriz” and “Iran National Science Foundation (INSF)” for their supports of this project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Electrochemistry Research Laboratory, Physical Chemistry Department, Faculty of Chemistry, Center of Excellence for New Materials and Clean Chemistry, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

    Elnaz Asghari, Maryam Gholizadeh-Khajeh & Habib Ashassi-Sorkhabi

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  1. Elnaz Asghari
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  2. Maryam Gholizadeh-Khajeh
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  3. Habib Ashassi-Sorkhabi
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Correspondence to Elnaz Asghari.

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Asghari, E., Gholizadeh-Khajeh, M. & Ashassi-Sorkhabi, H. Tartaric Acid as a Non-toxic and Environmentally-Friendly Anti-scaling Material for Using in Cooling Water Systems: Electrochemical and Surface Studies. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 25, 4230–4238 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-016-2310-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-016-2310-2

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