Heterocyclic Compounds as Corrosion Inhibitors: Bibliometric analysis based on Scopus and VOS viewer

This Bibliometric analysis, using Scopus/VOS viewer, exposed the use of N-heterocyclic compounds (N-HCs) as corrosion inhibitors for various metallic materials. N-heterocyclic compounds are cyclic molecules that contain at least one nitrogen atom within the ring structure. N-HCs are critically important in medicine, life sciences, and materials science due to their wide range of biological activities and applications as pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and dyes. Many essential natural products, such as amino acids, alkaloids, vitamins, and DNA bases (like adenine and guanine), are N-heterocycles. Their high reactivity in coordination chemistry, where they act as ligands for metal ions and consequently, can be used as excellent inhibitors of metal corrosion in high aggressive media. In other words, the nature of N-HCs favors adsorption on the metal surface, thereby securing the metal against corrosion. The weight loss is the simplest technique to measure the corrosion rate in generalized attack, but the polarization curves indicated the type of inhibitor type: Anodic, cathodic, or mixed-type inhibitors. Several adsorption isotherms were proposed and studied. The Langmuir adsorption isotherm model accurately describes as widely studied. The thermodynamic activation parameters were calculated. The data explained that the inhibition takes place through the physical and/or chemical adsorption. The thermodynamic activation parameters can be estimated using the Arrhenius law and its derived transition relation.