Fluorescence Carbon Dots from Durian as an Eco-Friendly Inhibitor for Copper Corrosion

Herein we report a facile synthesis of blue emitting carbon dots from durian juice and their applications as an eco-friendly inhibitor for copper corrosion in the marine environment. The synthesized C-dots were characterized by infrared (IR), UV-Visible, and fluorescence spectroscopy. The obtained C-dots exhibited excitation-independent emission at 519 nm with reasonable quantum yield (QY). Based on the IR spectra, hydrophilic groups were abundant on the surface of C-dots such as C=O, O-H, and S=O, thus reflect their potential as corrosion inhibitors. The corrosion inhibition efficiencies were examined on the copper surface in 1% NaCl solution by electrochemical and weight loss techniques. Results indicate that C-dots were found to be an effective inhibitor with the inhibition efficiency as high as 86% using 800 ppm C-dot. The potentiodynamic polarization data showed that the inhibitor was of the mixed type where the slopes of the cathodic and anodic Tafel curves are dependent on the inhibitor concentration.