A composition for application to a substrate comprising a carrier, a permanganate ion source, and a corrosion inhibitor comprising a rare earth ion, an alkali metal ion, an alkaline earth metal ion, and/or a transition metal ion is disclosed. A substrate or article including the composition for application to a substrate, and a method of treating a substrate comprising applying the composition to a substrate to form a permanganate treated surface of the substrate, and applying a lithium containing composition on the permanganate treated surface are also disclosed.