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The paper reports on carbon coatings deposited by accelerated C 60 ion beam irradiation onto the VT1-0 titanium alloy surface at different substrate temperatures, considering potential applications in fuel-cell bipolar plates. We identified the temperature range for forming a conductive carbon nanocomposite coating (CNC) at different accelerating voltages (U a). The obtained CNC consists of graphite nanocrystals embedded in an amorphous diamond-like matrix. The nanocomposite containing ∼40% of sp 3 bonds is formed at T s = 300–400 °C under U a = 6 kV. The increase in accelerating voltage to 8 kV reduces the temperature of the nanocomposite formation to T s = 200 °C. Interface contact resistance (ICR) of a CNC coated titanium plate decreases to 2.6 ± 0.7 mOhm⋅cm2 at a sealing pressure of 1.5 MPa, which is close to carbon paper – graphite contact resistance. This low ICR value persists after prolonged corrosion tests. Tribological studies established high wear resistance and high adhesion of CNC to titanium substrate, showing potential for stable operation of coated bipolar plates in mobile applications. CNC allows to overcome the limitation of corrosion-caused ICR increase, which makes CNC-coated titanium a promising candidate to substitute gold-coated stainless steel as a raw material for bipolar plates of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells. • Nanocomposite carbon coatings are deposited on titanium by accelerated C 60 ion beam. • The interface contact resistance obtained is as low as 2.6 ± 0.7 mOhm⋅cm2. • Coated samples exhibit a stable low corrosion current for a long period of time. • Coatings show high adhesion to titanium and high wear resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]