The emphasis in the present study was placed on developing Raman spectroscopy into a versatile technique, which offers an opportunity for investigating the inhibition effect on the corrosion process of bare Fe surfaces. Several surface pretreatments have been developed to bare Fe electrodes in order to obtain a surface of optimal surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). It has been shown that the surface enhancement factor (SEF) of a bare Fe electrode can reach about two to three orders, depending on the roughening procedure. Therefore, SERS can be extended successfully to study some Fe electrode systems of practical importance. Here we present a study on the film formation process and inhibition effect of benzotriazole (BTA) on Fe surfaces. The results show that BTA interacts with Fe surface through its two N atoms of the triazole ring and surface complex polymer of [Fe-n(BTA)(p)](m) is formed, which may suppress the dissolution and oxidation of Fe effectively. In addition, the solution pH, the synergetic effect of I- with BTA was revealed to have a significant influence on the inhibition efficiency. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.