Chemical composition,antioxidant and anticorrosive activities of Thymus Algeriensis

Known therapeutic applications of medicinal plants were made of them an alternative to synthetic compounds. in this situation,the present study was designed to give more knowledge and helping to exploit the leaves of thymus algeriensis by determining the chemical composition of its essential oil,the phenolic content of the aqueous extract and evaluate the antioxidant and anticorrosive activity. the essential oil was characterized by geranyl acetate (80.8%) as mainly compound. the aqueous extract has exhibited a moderate antioxidant activity against free radical dpph. on the other hand,this work describes the successful performance of t. algeriensis as an eco-friendly corrosion inhibitor for acidic media. the corrosion inhibiting effect of the extract and the essential oil of t. algeriensis (tae & tao) on mild steel in 0.5 m h2so4 solution was investigated by electrochemical studies in the presence of different concentrations of tae & tao ranging from 0.25 g/l to 2 g/l. potentiodynamic polarization showed that tae and tao behaves as mixed type inhibitors. nyquist plots show that the efficiency of inhibition increases with increasing concentration of t. algeriensis and the increased charge transfer resistance.