Pure commercial aluminium was implanted with boron, nitrogen oxygen and tin ions to doses of between 10 10 and 10 17 ions/cm 2 and at energies of 340 keV or 400 keV. Lubricated sliding-wear experiments using a pin-on-disc machine have shown a significant improvement in wear and friction. No direct correlations between friction and wear variations have been observed, indicating the complicated nature of both processes. The observed change in friction and wear is considered to be due to an alteration in the surface oxidation properties of aluminium brought about by the ion implantation, the interaction of implanted ions with dislocations, the precipitation of hard phase particles, and the overall effect of these processes on the initiation and propagation of wear cracks. The analytical techniques used included Rutherford backscattering, optical microscopy and topography.