Advancement of corrosion inhibitor system through N-heterocyclic compounds: a review

Organic compounds containing heteroatoms have been comprehended to exhibit a remarkable tendency towards corrosion mitigation. This corrosion mitigating tendency is enabled by the presence of electron clouds composed of lone pairs, pi-electrons, which allow them to be adsorbed over metallic equivalents. Because of the availability of nitrogen as heteroatoms, these compounds are being extensively used for corrosion diminution. This article looks at a variety of heterocyclic organic compounds like imidazole, triazole, pyridine, pyrazole, quinoline, tetrazole, pyrimidine, purine and pyrrole, having nitrogen as their prime constituent heteroatom for their anti-corrosive properties. The anti-corrosive properties of these nitrogen-based compounds in acidic conditions have been demonstrated using all available experimental techniques such as EIS, PDP and other theoretical investigations such as DFT and MD. Furthermore, the shift in the trend of these compounds inhibitory efficiencies has been noted and underlined here.