The aim of the present study is to synthesis and explore the inhibition influences of three morpholinium
cationic surfactants (coded: MCS-10, MCS-12, and MCS-14) on the carbon steel corrosion in petroleum
wells formation water containing 3 M HCl solution at different temperatures. The chemical structures
of the synthesized compounds were confirmed by FTIR, 1HNMR analysis. The surface properties of the
surfactants were investigated via the surface tension measurements. Inhibition efficiencies obtained from
weight loss were in good agreement and they were up to 92.2, 92.8, and 93.1% for MCS-10, MCS-12, and
MCS-14, respectively. The effect of temperature on the corrosion behavior of mild steel was studied in the
range of 298–343 K. Villamil adsorption isotherm was found to be the more fitted model for the adsorption process description. Also, the biocidal activity for the synthesized morpholinium surfactants was
studied. The parameters of DFT and molecular dynamic simulation were found adequately correlated
with the obtained experimental results. Surface morphology study through scanning electron microscope
(SEM) analysis showed a significant improvement on the surface morphology of the steel plate in the
presence of MCS-14 in the corrosive solution.