Abstract:The magnetron sputtering technology is used to dope metal Ni into the ZrB2 coating for improving coating toughness.The ZrB2Ni coating is prepared by reverse design method，namely the Ni content in the ZrB2Ni coating is adjusted by varying the ZrB2 target sputtering power，and their effects on the mechanical properties and tribological properties of ZrB2 coatings are systematically investigated to obtain the optimal coating preparation technology.The result shows that with the increasing of ZrB2 target sputtering power，the deposition rate increases approximately linearly；the nanohardness，elastic modulus and average friction coefficient gradually increase；the critical load and wear rate of ZrB2 coatings both increase first and then decrease，but the range varies little.The appropriate amount of Ni element doped into the ZrB2 coating can improve its toughness.When the ZrB2 target sputtering power is 2.4kW，the coating presents the optimum properties with the critical load of 20.9 N and the wear rate of 4.3×10-1μm3/(N·μm)，corresponding to the best wear resistance.In this case，the characteristic values of H/E and H3/E*2 also keep highest values of 0.066 and 0.075GPa，respectively.