Carbon dots (CDs) or quantum dots (QDs) are a new and rising member of the carbon family that has withdrawn substantial academic and industrial attention. Unlike to most of the carbon allotropes such as CNTs, graphene and fullerene, CDs are associated with numerous advantages including substantial biocompatibility, high quantum yield, magnified adsorption ability, excellent electric conductivity, low toxicity, cost-effectivity, eco-friendliness, high solubility and excellent stability. Because of their ecofriendly and high solubility, recently CDs are being used as aqueous phase corrosion inhibitors. Literature inspection suggests that CDs derived from citric acid, ammonium citrate, urea, L-histidine and thiourea exhibit remarkable anticorrosive activity. Spectroscopic techniques such as SEM, TEM, HRTEM, AFM, FT-IR, UV-vis, EDX and XPS are mainly employed to characterize the developed CDs. Literature outcomes suggest that N doped, N,S co-doped and chemically modified CDs exhibit higher anticorrosive activity than purified CDs. The CDs mostly behave as mixed- and interface-type inhibitors. Adsorption of CDs on metal surfaces mostly followed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. Surface investigations principally SEM, AFM, EDX and XPS analyses are widely conducted to demonstrate the corrosion inhibition using CDs.

碳点 (CD) 或量子点 (QD) 是碳家族的新兴成员，已引起学术界和工业界的广泛关注。与大多数碳同素异形体（如碳纳米管、石墨烯和富勒烯）不同，碳纳米管具有许多优点，包括生物相容性好、量子产率高、吸附能力强、导电性好、毒性低、成本效益高、环境友好、溶解度高和出色的稳定性。由于其生态友好和高溶解性，最近 CDs 被用作水相腐蚀抑制剂。文献检查表明，柠檬酸、柠檬酸铵、尿素、L-组氨酸和硫脲衍生的CDs表现出显着的防腐活性。光谱技术，如 SEM、TEM、HRTEM、AFM、FT-IR、UV-vis、EDX 和 XPS 主要用于表征开发的 CD。文献结果表明，N 掺杂、N、S 共掺杂和化学修饰的 CDs 比纯化的 CDs 具有更高的防腐活性。CDs 主要表现为混合型和界面型抑制剂。CDs在金属表面的吸附主要遵循Langmuir吸附等温线。表面研究主要是 SEM、AFM、EDX 和 XPS 分析被广泛进行，以证明使用 CD 的腐蚀抑制。