The use of cerium salts as corrosion inhibitors for hot dip galvanized steel has been object of a numerous studies in the last few years. The role of cerium ions as corrosion inhibitors was proved: cerium is able to block the cathodic sites of the metal, forming insoluble hydroxides and oxides on the zinc surface. This fact leads to a dramatic decrease of the cathodic current densities and, therefore, to a reduction the overall corrosion processes. On the other hand, the potential of cerium oxides as corrosion inhibitors was also proposed. However, the real effectiveness of this kind of anticorrosive pigments has not been clarified yet. In this work cerium (IV) oxides are considered as corrosion inhibitors for galvanized steel. The corrosion inhibition mechanism of mechanically treated (milled) CeO2 alone and in combination with milled SiO2 nanoparticles was investigated. For this purpose milled CeO2, CeO2 and SiO2 milled together and milled SiO2 particles were studied as corrosion inhibitors in water solution. Therefore, the different mechanically treated particles were dispersed in 0.1 M NaCl solution to test their effectiveness as corrosion inhibitors for galvanized steel. The galvanized steel was immersed in the different solutions and the corrosion inhibition efficiency of the different particles was measured by means of electrochemical techniques. For this purpose, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements were carried out, monitoring the evolution of the corrosion processes occurring at the metal surface with the immersion time in the solution. The effect of the different pigments was also investigated by carrying out anodic and cathodic polarization measurements. The polarization curves were acquired under conditions of varied pH. The experimental measurements suggest that the mechanical treatment performed on the SiO2 and CeO2 particles promote the formation of an effective corrosion pigment. The tests evidence also the beneficial effect of the CeO2 milled particles when used in combination with the mechanically treated SiO2 particles. It was proved that in alkaline conditions the effect of the mechanically treated CeO2 and SiO2 particles is dramatically increased. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.