###### Abstract  
The electron cyclotron resonance-chemical vapor deposition (ECR-CVD) plasma coating method was employed to bombard steel surfaces to achieve high-strength carbon-based structures. The surfaces to be coated were rotated using an Arduino-controlled rotation system at different orientations to ensure a homogeneous coating. The samples were fixed 10 mm away from the plasma gun (CH\({}_{4}\)/N\({}_{2}\) plasma). The samples were characterized via XRD, EDX, Raman spectroscopy, SEM, and AFM. The coated surfaces were then subjected to tribological tests, including the wear rate, coefficient of friction, and surface hardness-roughness. Thermally reduced graphene oxide with an average nanocrystalline size of 5.19-24.58 nm and embedded carbon nanotube structures with sizes ranging from 150 to 600 nm were identified, as well as less-defective microcrystallines and nanodiamonds. The results demonstrated that carbon coating in the presence of N\({}_{2}\) gas led to a maximum reduction of 66% in the average wear rate, 14% improvement in the average surface hardness, 40% enhancement in the average coefficient of friction, and 48% enhancement in the average surface roughness. Consequently, a high-adhesion carbon-based coating deposited via plasma is likely to be a good candidate in the context of manufacturing engineering steels with a low friction coefficient, low wear rate, and long service life. surface growth; modified ECR-CVD; carbon nanostructures; piston ring surface; abrasion resilience 20251534020251534025153  
A technique to generate a wide range of carbon compounds is electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) [8]. Carbon nanostructures can be uniformly coated, even on surfaces with high roughness at low temperatures, both with and without a catalyst, thanks to the effective large-area and uniform plasma-generating method of electron cyclotron resonance-chemical vapor deposition (ECR-CVD) [9]. This approach uses an RF antenna in a magnetic field created by intense microwave radiation absorption to make plasma. The widely varying pressure values can result in a high-density plasma and augmented metal atom ionization in such a discharge [5; 10; 11; 12]. An externally provided magnetic field and electron frequency allow the electrons to move in a cyclotron. The microwave power is effectively transferred to the plasma, which functions as a resonance cavity inside the plasma chamber [10; 13; 14; 15; 16]. [PERSON] and [PERSON] [17] investigated the application of DLC films synthesized by ECR-CVD as anti-reflection coatings in heterojunction solar cells. They concluded that the integration of DLC films into heterojunction cells led to an efficiency increase from 0.74% to 0.78%, and nitrogen-doped DLC films further enhanced the efficiency to 0.79%. [PERSON] et al. [18] found that the vertical graphene nanosheet coatings formed by ECR-CVD significantly enhanced the corrosion resistance of Cu substrates, with a corrosion rate about two orders of magnitude lower than that of bare Cu. Many researchers have been utilizing the aforementioned features of carbon-based structures in a variety of applications. However, there have been some drawbacks of carbon-based coatings on steel substrates. [PERSON] et al. [19] investigated the performance of different hydrogenated DLC coatings used in hydraulic systems. According to the results of the study, DLC coatings have been effective in improving the wear resistance and friction properties in hydraulic applications. They also concluded that DLC coatings can have difficulty adhering to certain metal surfaces. Without proper surface treatments and interlayers, the risk of the coating peeling or delamination increases. [PERSON] et al. [20] deposited coatings on metal substrates consisting of multiple phases, including amorphous carbon, fullerene-like carbon, nanographite, nanodiamond, and C\({}_{60}\).