In this thesis,zirconium carbide (ZrC) layers were deposited on graphite substrates using a CVD reactor at temperatures ranging from 1250 °C to 1450 °C in steps of 50 °C. The deposited layers were characterised by XRD, Raman Spectroscopy and SEM.ZrCsamples were also prepared by spark plasma sintering (SPS), at 1700, 1900 and 2100 °C at 50 MPa for 10 minutes. The phase and microstructure after the sintering process were investigated by XRD and SEM. Iridium (Ir) thin films were deposited on these ZrCsamples and annealed in vacuum at temperatures of 600 and 800 °C for 2h. The phase composition, solid-state reactions and surface morphology were investigated by GIXRD and SEM. XRD was used to identify the phases present in the as-deposited and annealed samples. It showed that Ir2Zr was the initial phase formed at 600 °C. At temperature 800 °C IrZr formed. / Thesis (PhD (Physics))--University of Pretoria, 2019. / University of Pretoria / Physics / PhD (Physics) / Unrestricted