The feasibility of polyaniline emeraldine base (EB) for enhancing long-term corrosion resistance of magnesium alloy (AZ91D Mg alloy) was confirmed, since the complex impedance of Mg alloy protected by EB/epoxy resin (ER) composite coating with 10 wt% EB loading maintained around 2 GSZ cm(2) even after 80 day exposure in 0.5 M NaCl solution, while that of pure ER coated analogue decreased to 0.17 M Omega cm(2) only after 31 days. The improvement in corrosion resistance was attributed to the transition of interface layer from porous Mg(OH)(2) dominated one underneath pure ER coating to dense MgO dominated one underneath EB/ER coating, induced by the redox interaction of EB with Mg alloy. When the EB loading in EB/ER coating increased from 0 to 10 wt%, the relative XPS peak area ratio of MgO to Mg(OH)(2) increased from 0.78 to 1.18, indicating that EB behaved as effective corrosion inhibitor causing the transformation of oxide layer from porous Mg(OH)(2) to dense MgO. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.