The thermal stability of the γ-Fe 2O 3@SiO 2 nanocomposites and super low friction of the γ-Fe 2O 3@SiO 2 nanocomposite coatings in ambient air at high temperature are investigated in this paper. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microcopy, transmission scanning electron microcopy, high-temperature tribometer, thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry were used to investigate the microstructure, surface morphology and high-temperature tribological properties of the γ-Fe 2O 3@SiO 2 nanocomposite coatings, respectively. The results show that the γ-Fe 2O 3@SiO 2 nanocomposite with the core–shell structure has excellent thermal stability because the SiO 2 shell inhibits the phase transition of the γ-Fe 2O 3 phase to the α-Fe 2O 3 phase in the nanocomposites. The temperature of the phase transition in γ-Fe 2O 3 can be increased from 460 to 829 °C. The γ-Fe 2O 3@SiO 2 nanocomposite coatings exhibit super low friction (0.05) at 500 °C. A high-temperature super low friction mechanism is attributed to γ-Fe 2O 3 and the tribochemical reactions during sliding.