Micro-arc oxidization of AZ91D magnesium alloys was studied in solutions containing sodium aluminate and potassium fluoride at constant applied current densities. The influence of applied current densities, concentration and constituents of the electrolyte as well as treatment time on micro-arc oxidization process was investigated, respectively; surface morphology and phase structure were analyzed using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). Potentiodynamic polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used to evaluate the corrosion resistance of ceramic coatings formed on magnesium alloys. XRD analyses indicate that the ceramic coatings fabricated on the surface of magnesium alloys by micro-arc oxidization are composed of spinel phase MgAl2O4 and intermetallic phase Al2Mg; variation of treatment time arises no obvious difference to phase structure of the ceramic coatings. A few circular pores and micro-cracks are also observed to remain on the ceramic coating surface; the number of the pores is decreasing, while the diameter of the pores is apparently increasing with prolonging of treatment time. The corrosion resistance of ceramic coatings is improved more than 100 times compared with magnesium alloy substrate. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.