In this paper, the development and characterization of some protective coatings on steel substrate are presented. The coatings are realized by plasma spray techniques. The substrate material used is a Cr-Mo-V-based hot work tool steel, initially submitted to vacuum heat treatment to achieve homogeneous hardness. The main attention is focused on the study of wear and on the characterization of the interface between the substrate material and the coating layer, because of their key role in determining the resistance of the coating layer. Simulation of friction and wear processes is performed by pin-on-disk test and the tested samples are observed by scanning electron microscopy. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.