Untitled

Abstract

Studies on fungal influenced corrosion (FIC) of aluminium (Al) in the presence of Acremonium kiliense were carried out using gravimetric and potentiodynamic polarization (PDP) techniques. The influence depends on the capacity of fungi to grow on the metal surface and produce metabolites that stimulate changes in polarization resistance and destruct the metal surface. The results obtained after 60 days exposure show that the growth and attachment of the fungi on aluminum influenced their corrosion rate (CR) over the period as evident from the increase in CRs and weight loss. For example, the cumulative corrosion rate ∑CR of aluminium when exposed to A. kiliense was higher (5.58±0.55 mpy) than that observed when it was not exposed to fungi (2.71±0.01 mpy). The gravimetric analyses of CR and weight loss also show that they were proportional to the time of exposure. The results obtained further reveal that corrosion current density (I corr ) of the aluminium increased in the presence of the fungi (183.7 μA/cm 2 ) when compared with the value obtained in the absence of the fungi (153.5 μA/cm 2 ) which indicates an evidence of corrosion activities.