[en] Bearing steels must have high hardness, good wear resistance and dimensional stability. The aim of this work was to study the effect of NbC coating, produced using the thermo-reactive deposition (TRD) process, on the wear resistance of the AISI 52100 steel. Untreated AISI 52100 samples were ground up to 600 mesh emery paper. The bath was composed of 5wt.% ferroniobium (65 wt.% Nb), 3wt.% aluminum and (Na2B4O7) to 100%. Samples were treated at 1000 deg C for 4h and quenched in oil directly from the bath. The resulting layer was characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and a micro-abrasive wear testing. The thermo-reactive deposition process in molten borax produced a hard and homogeneous layer composed by NbC, which was confirmed by X-ray diffraction. The NbC coating produced a great increase in the wear resistance of the AISI 52100 steel, decreasing the wear rate by an order of magnitude in relation to the substrate. For coated and uncoated samples the worn volume and wear rate increases with the load. (author)