Valentine Chikaodili Anadebe, Afifah Harmayanti, Taiwo W. Quadri, Saheed E. Elugoke, Abhinay Thakur, Gideon E. Mathias, Omar Dagdag, Bakang M. Mothudi, Thabo T. I. Nkambule, Titus A. M. Msagati, Bhekie B. Mamba, Rakesh C. Barik, Ganesh Pattan-Siddappa, Sang-Youn Kim, Eno E. Ebenso
Corrosion remains a critical challenge across industrial sectors and significantly affecting global economic and environmental burden. Conventional synthetic corrosion inhibitors face limitations such as toxicity, poor long-term stability and decrement of efficiency at elevated temperatures. The emergence of nanotechnology for corrosion control offers promising advances by tailoring surface properties and enabling multifunctional protective mechanisms. Seeing their potential in corrosion mitigation, nanomaterials have been explored in recent years for both coating-phase and aqueous-phase applications to improve corrosion resistance and responsiveness. This review discussed a wide range of nanomaterials exploring their mechanism and abilities in enhancing barrier properties, passivation, controlled ion release and self-healing properties. Besides that, recently reported coatings such as superhydrophobic, smart coatings and green sustainable inhibitors were also deeply discussed, especially on their inhibition mechanisms, advantages and limitations. Moreover, industrial relevance analysis, particularly in the applications of oil and gas, marine, and aerospace industry were also explored in this review, addressing specific demands based on each industrial working conditions' challenges. Nevertheless, challenges persist in scaling up production, ensuring long-term durability and managing environmental impacts. This review concluded by identifying future directions, particularly in multiscale modelling, predictive corrosion analytics and smart materials development. Comprehensively, nanotechnology showed high potential toward high-performance and sustainable corrosion mitigation strategies. © The Author(s) 2026.
Centre for Materials Science, College of Science, Engineering and Technology, University of South Africa, Johannesburg, 1710, South Africa; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Brawijaya University, MT Haryono 167, Malang, 65145, Indonesia; Division of Research and Development, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, 144411, India; Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Physical Sciences, University of Calabar, Calabar, PMB 1115, Nigeria; Bioprocess and Environment Team, Laboratory of Engineering Sciences and Energy Management (LASIME), Higher School of Technology, Ibn Zohr University, BP 33/S, Agadir, 80150, Morocco; Department of Physics, College of Science, Engineering and Technology, University of South Africa, Johannesburg, 1710, South Africa; Institute of Nanotechnology and Water Sustainability, University of South Africa, Johannesburg, 1710, South Africa; College of Science, Engineering and Technology, University of South Africa, Johannesburg, 1710, South Africa; Corrosion and Materials Protection Division, CSIR- Central Electrochemical Research Institute, Tamil Nadu, Karaikudi, 630 003, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 201002, India; Interaction Laboratory, Future Convergence Engineering, Advanced Technology Research Center, Korea University of Technology and Education (KOREATECH), Chungcheongnam-do, Cheonan-Si, 31253, South Korea
