Self-assembly of organic molecules onto metallic surfaces is an efficient way to modify surface properties of metallic materials. The aim of this paper was to examine the possibility of improving the corrosion stability of copper nickel alloy in chloride environment by self-assembled films of palmitic and stearic acid. Electrochemical techniques such as potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used to determine the protective properties of the fatty acids films. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and contact angle (CA) measurements were used to evaluate structural properties of the surface layers. It was found that even a small difference in a fatty acid chain length might have a strong effect on layer stability in aqueous medium. (C) 2016 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.