A wire grid polarizer (WGP) can have a phosphonate conformal-coating to protect the WGP from at least one of the following: corrosion, dust, and damage due to tensile forces in a liquid on the WGP. The conformal-coating can include a chemical: where R1 can include a hydrophobic group, Z can be a bond to the ribs, and R5 can be any suitable chemical element or group. A method of applying a phosphonate conformal-coating over a WGP can include exposing the WGP to (R1)iPO(R4)j(R5)k, where: i is 1 or 2, j is 1 or 2, k is 0 or 1, and i+j+k=3; each R1 can independently be a hydrophobic group; R4 can be a phosphonate-reactive-group; each R6 can independently be an alkyl group, an aryl group, or combinations thereof; and each R5, if any, can independently be any suitable chemical element or group.