In the present investigation permanganate based conversion coating (PCC) was developed on AA 2024 alloy using alkaline bath containing Mn/Mo oxyanions. Conversion coating was formed on alclad (APCC) and unclad (UPCC) aluminium alloys by simple immersion method. Surface morphology of the APCC and UPCC specimens exhibited smooth and mud-crack patterns respectively. Elemental analysis showed the presence of higher amounts of Mn (5-6 wt.%) and Mo (0.3 wt.%) on UPCC. Raman and XPS analysis showed the presence of compounds such as MnOx (Mn3O4 and Mn2O3), MnO2, KMnO4, MoOx, MoO2, MoO3/polymolybdate on both coating surfaces. The corrosion current density (i(corr)) values obtained for both coated surfaces were less than 1 mu A/cm(2). However, APCC specimen showed the lowest i(corr) value of about 0.05 mu A/cm(2) after 168 h of immersion in 3.5% NaCl. EIS studies revealed the higher charge transfer resistance (R-ct) values for APCC specimen after 1 and 168 h immersion compared to UPCC. Coated specimens were also tested by continuous salt spray exposure (ASTM B117) with and without cross-hatch mark ('X') for about 750 h. Coating discoloration along with the presence of few corrosion products had been noticed on UPCC specimen after continuous salt spray exposure. (C) 2012 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.