Eco-friendly, good water soluble and inexpensive, carbon dots (CDMU and CDMH) were synthesized, characterized and applied as corrosion inhibitor for mild steel (MS) in 15% HCl solution. The characterization of both inhibitors was carried out by FTIR, UV–vis, photoluminescence, XPS and TEM. The average size of CDMU and CDMH were found as 2.03 and 2.5 nm, respectively. The inhibitive effect of CDMU and CDMH was evaluated by weight loss measurement, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and potentiodynamic polarization measurement. Both CDMU and CDMH exhibited 97.89 and 90.10% of inhibition efficiency, respectively, at 100 mg/L concentration and 303 K temperature. Adsorption of CDMU and CDMH on MS surface followed Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The surface morphology of uninhibited and inhibited MS specimens was studied by the FESEM, AFM and XPS analysis.

合成了环保、水溶性好且价格低廉的碳点（CDMU 和 CDMH），表征并应用于 15% HCl 溶液中低碳钢 (MS) 的缓蚀剂。通过 FTIR、UV-vis、光致发光、XPS 和 TEM 对两种抑制剂进行表征。CDMU 和 CDMH 的平均尺寸分​​别为 2.03 和 2.5 nm。CDMU和CDMH的抑制作用通过失重测量、电化学阻抗谱和动电位极化测量进行评价。CDMU 和 CDMH 在 100 mg/L 浓度和 303 K 温度下分别表现出 97.89% 和 90.10% 的抑制效率。CDMU和CDMH在MS表面的吸附遵循Langmuir吸附等温线。通过FESEM研究了未抑制和抑制的MS样品的表面形貌，