A uniform composite film of Ni/polypyrrole was deposited on a copper substrate, without any preliminary chemical and electrochemical surface treatment of the substrate, by reversal potential pulsing technique. The influence of pulse potential, pulse frequency and electrolysis time on the formation of a uniform composite film was investigated. These films were characterized using SEM, EDX, EPMA, and GD-OES. The composite films produced under the optimized conditions exhibited a strong adherence to the substrate and exhibited the better corrosion resistance in a marine environment than that of the electrodeposited nickel coating without any incorporated polymer. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.