Zirconium oxide conversion layers are considered as environmentally friendly alternatives replacing chromate-based passivation layers in the coil-coating industry. Based on excellent electronic barrier properties they provide an effective corrosion protection of the metallic substrate. In this work, thin layers were grown on HDG-steel-substrates by increasing the local pH at the surface and were characterized using potentiodynamic polarization technique. The influence of Cu(NO3)(2)center dot 3H(2)O or Fe(NO3)(3)center dot 9H(2)O on morphology and thickness of deposited protective layers were investigated by XPS, ToF-SIMS and FE-SEM. A significant film thickness increase was found by adding Cu2+ or Fe3+ ions to the conversion solution. In addition, growth kinetics was studied by in situ measurements of corrosion potential using potentiodynamic polarization technique. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.