Mg-rich primer as a new type protective coating provides cathodic protection for Al alloy. In this paper, a kind of phosphatizing surface treatment on Mg particles was studied in order to improve the protective performance of Mg-rich primer. After treated with phosphoric acid, a protective magnesium phosphate layer was formed on the surface of Mg particles, which had no negative influence on the cathodic protection of the Mg-rich primer for Al alloy. The coating resistance of the treated Mg-rich primer was bigger than that of untreated primer, meanwhile the coating capacitance of the treated Mg-rich primer was smaller than that of untreated primer, suggesting that the barrier effect of the primer was improved and the lifetime was extended. The magnesium phosphate layer could reduce the consumption rate of Mg particles. Meanwhile, the phosphate radicals transported to Al alloy substrate to form a product layer composed of magnesium phosphate and aluminum phosphate on the substrate surface, which decreased the corrosion rate of Al alloy and improved the protective performance of the primer. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.