Alumina ceramic coatings were fabricated on 304 stainless steel by cathodic plasma electrolytic deposition (CPED). Influence of treating frequency of the power supply on the microstructure and properties of the coatings were studied. The results indicated that coatings obtained at various frequencies on 304 stainless steels were all composed of alpha-Al2O3 and gamma-Al2O3, and alpha-Al2O3 was the dominant phase. The contents of alpha-Al2O3 decreased gradually in a very small rate with increasing the frequency and gamma-Al2O3 gradually increased. The surface of alumina ceramic coating was porous. With increasing the frequency, the coating surface gradually became less rough and more compact, resulting in low surface roughness. The bonding strength of Al2O3 coating was higher than 22 MPa and was not strongly affected by treating frequency. With increasing the frequency, the alumina coated steels showed better and gradually increasing corrosion resistance than the uncoated one in 3.5% NaCl solution. The coating steel with desirable corrosion resistance was obtained at 800 Hz whose corrosion current potential and corrosion density were -0.237 V and 7.367 x 10 (8) A/ cm(2), respectively. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.