Objective To study the effect of diamond particles on the structure hardness and wear resistance of Ni60 coating, and compare the differences of structure and properties between Ni60 coating and Ni60 coating with 20% diamond particles. Methods The preheated Ni60 and Ni60+20% diamond powders were ball milled for 10 h under the protection of Ar gas. The milled powder was granulated and sieved. The particles sized below 200 mesh were selected as spray materials. Ni60 coating and Ni60 coating with 20% diamond particles were prepared on the surface of the steel by flame spraying. X-ray diffraction analysis, scanning electron microscopy, micro-hardness and wear resistance tests were carried out for the prepared coating. Results Ni60 coating and Ni60 coating with 20% diamond particles were obtained with good compactness by flame spraying. After polishing, the section of Ni60 coating was clean and tidy and had no rough area while there was a large area of rough area in the section of Ni60 coating with 20% diamond particles. The microhardness of the Ni60 coating was about 694.2HV, and that of the Ni60 coating with 20% diamond particles was about 891.8HV. Under the load of 6 N and the speed of 1000 r/min, the wear loss of Ni60 coating for every 10 min was 10.7×10-5 g/mm2, and that of Ni60 coating with 20% diamond particles was 9.6×10-5 g/mm2. Conclusion Because of the high hardness of diamond particles, after sanding and polishing, the Ni60 coating with 20% diamond particles has no pure metallic coatings as clean and tidy as simple metal but appears relatively rough in the local region of the coating. Through comparing the mechanical properties of the two coatings, the Ni60 coating with 20% diamond particles has higher microhardness and better wear resistance. Under the condition of low load and high sliding friction speed, the wear mode of the coating is micro removal.