Graphene oxide-alumina (GO-Al2O3) sheet hybrids were fabricated using GO as a precursor, then anchoring Al2O3 on GO sheets with the help of 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane. The structure of hybrids can be measured by FT-IR, XPS, XRD, SEM and TEM. Composite epoxy coatings with same concentrations of GO, Al2O3, and GO-Al2O3 hybrids, among them, GO-Al2O3 hybrids not only achieved an homogeneous dispersion and compatibility in epoxy resin, but exhibited an obvious superiority in reinforcing the anti-corrosion performance of epoxy coatings. Furthermore, the anticorrosive mechanisms of GO-Al2O3/epoxy coatings were tentatively discussed. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.