Abstract: A nitrogenated diamond-like carbon (DLC) layer, like a nitrogenated DLC overcoat on a magnetic recording disk, includes cyanoacrylates that are attached to nitrogenated sites on the surface of the carbon layer. Cyanoacrylates are reactive with surface amine groups, which are among the nitrogenated surface sites that act as adsorption sites for volatile contaminants in the disk drive. The covalent bonding of the cyanoacrylate with the amine groups and other reactive sites on the disk overcoat blocks the adsorption of contaminants when they impinge on the overcoat surface. The cyanoacrylate may be applied to the overcoat by dipping the disk into a solution containing the cyanoacrylate or by exposing the overcoat to a cyanoacrylate vapor.