Ceramic coating was achieved on Q235 carbon steel by PEO (plasma electrolytic oxidation, PEO) without any pretreatment in sodium aluminate system. The discharge process as well as the accompanied Surface morphology evolution was analyzed. The phase and elemental composition of the coatings were also investigated. The corrosion, mechanical and tribological properties of the ceramic coating were primarily studied. It is found that the coating surface was Porous and the thickness of the coating was about 120 mu m. The coating mainly consisted of FeAl(2)O(4), Fe(3)O(4) and a little gamma-Al(2)O(3). The corrosion Current of the coated sample was 3.082 x 10(-7) A/cm(2), which was decreased by two orders of magnitude compared with the uncoated one. The micro hardness of the ceramic coating was 1210 Hv, which was about three times as that of the uncoated sample. The friction coefficient of coated sample was also well improved. Investigations revealed that PEO Provided a promising technique for preparation of protective ceramic coatings on steels. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.