A Zn—Al layered double hydroxide (LDH) composition is added to a solution including a corrosion inhibitor and stirred, and a precipitate of the solution is collected, washed, and dried to form a corrosion inhibiting material (CIM), in which the LDH composition is intercalated with the corrosion inhibitor. An inorganic CIM and/or an organic CIM may be formed. The organic CIM may be added to a sol-gel composition to form an organic CIM-containing sol-gel composition, and the inorganic CIM may be added to a sol-gel composition to form an inorganic CIM-containing sol-gel composition. Further, the organic CIM-containing sol-gel composition may be applied on a substrate (e.g., an aluminum alloy substrate) to form an organic CIM-containing sol-gel layer and cured by ultraviolet (UV) radiation, the inorganic CIM-containing sol-gel composition may be applied on the substrate to form an inorganic CIM-containing sol-gel layer and cured by UV radiation, and the sol-gel layers may be thermally cured.