In this work, we report the thermal, structural and anticorrosive properties of glasses from the xP 2 O 5 -yPbO-zB 2 O 3 system. The prepared materials were characterized using different techniques such as X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). DSC analysis showed that the thermal stability increases with the increase of PbO and P 2 O 5 oxides contents. These results were confirmed by density and molar volume measurements. Furthermore, the structural evolution of the studied glasses was followed by FTIR vibrational spectroscopy, and it showed a cross-linking of the glass network upon incorporation of PbO. In addition, the study of the corrosion inhibition of C35 steel by glasses of the xP 2 O 5 -yPbO-zB 2 O 3 system showed that when concentrations of 70 and 700 ppm are used, the corrosion potential rises to around − 437 mV versus SCE, indicating that the glasses of the xP 2 O 5 -yPbO-zB 2 O 3 system change the stability of the metal/solution system to a different stable state. From 70 to 700 ppm, the inhibitor starts to have an effect on the anode current, but it is weaker than the cathode current. The results show that borophosphate glasses are effective corrosion inhibitors for C35 steel in a 1 M HCl environment. At 30 °C, the inhibitory efficiency is around 68% at a concentration of 70 ppm and increases with increasing inhibitor concentrations, reaching 86% at a concentration of 700 ppm.