The mechanical and tribological properties of the metal components can be improved by spraying ceramic coatings, but the ceramic coatings are not anti-friction. Thus we mixed nickel cladded graphite into 8YSZ (ZrO 2 + 8wt-%Y 2 O 3 ) powders, hoping to improve the tribological characteristics of the as-deposited 8YSZ coating. Meanwhile, the 8YSZ-Ni/ Graphite coating is deposited at a substrate temperature of 500°C to tune its microstructure and mechanical properties. The results demonstrate that the graphite uniformly distributed in the composite coatings and was hardly oxidized during spraying. The friction coefficient of 8YSZ-Ni/Graphite-RT coating is lower than that of 8YSZ coating due to the formation of graphite lubricating layer. The increase of defects leads to a decreasing tendency in the hardness and wear resistance. As the substrate temperature rises to 500°C, the mechanical and anti-wear properties of 8YSZ-Ni/Graphite coating are significantly improved.