We applied the microwave-assisted heating method to prepare the pyridine dialkyldithiophosphate-encapsulated Ni (Ni-DDP) nanoparticles. The surface-encapsulated Ni particles were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. Their tribological behavior in lubricate base oil was investigated on four-ball machines. The results show that uniform Ni-DDP nanoparticles about 12nm can be obtained using microwave heating device and also they exhibit good tribological behaviors dispersed in liquid paraffin.