Functionalized graphene oxide (FGO) were synthesized and investigated as corrosion inhibitors of carbon steel in this research. The inhibition behavior of FGO in CO 2 -saturated NaCl solution was studied via weight loss, surface characterizations, and electrochemical measurements. Results confirm that FGO could protect metal effectively and the inhibition efficiency showed the extreme effect as the increase of FGO concentration, reaching a maximum of 83.4% at 20 mg/L. FGO can adsorb on carbon steel via the functionalized groups and form the hydrophobic cover layer on the metal surface by the lamellar nanoparticles.
N and S co-doped carbon dots (N, S-CDs) were synthesized and used as corrosion inhibitors for the first time in this study. The inhibition performance of N, S-CDs for carbon steel in CO 2 -saturated NaCl solution was investigated. Results showed that N, S-CDs can effectively protect carbon steel from corrosion and the inhibition efficiency increases as the concentration of N, S-CDs increases, reaching 93% at 50 mg/L. Even at the low concentration, such as 10 mg/L N, S-CDs, the corrosion current density reduces from 1.472 × 10 −4 A·cm −2 in the blank condition to 2.99 × 10 −5 A·cm −2 after 12 h immersion. N, S-CDs can adsorb on carbon steel through their functional groups and nanoparticles made up of N, S-CDs can form a hydrophobic film on the metal surface, whose thickness was about 40 nm. A theoretical model is established to describe the inhibition mechanism of N, S-CDs.