Li2ZrO3-coated LiNi0.5Co0.2Mn0.3O2 (LZO-LMO) is successful synthesized by using a wet chemical method. Li2ZrO3 coating formed a uniform layer on LiNi0.5Co0.2Mn0.3O2 particles (LMO) without changing the crystal structure. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and charge-discharge tests show that the Li2ZrO3-modified layer can improve the cyclic and rate performance. In the cut-off voltage of 2.7-4.6V, LZO-LMO maintains 86% of the initial capacity at the 50th cycle, which is much higher than LMO with the retention of 66% of the initial capacity. The coating layer of LZO plays the positive role in conductivity of lithium diffusion and improves rate performance of LMO. At 10 C rates, LZO-LMO delivers the initial capacity of 95 mAh g(-1) which is much higher than 40 mAh g(-1) delivered by LMO. At the environmental temperature of 55 degrees C, LZO-LMO delivers the initial capacity of 194 mAh g(-1) at 0.2 C rate and presents an improved cyclic performance in comparison with LMO. The elemental analysis of electrodes carried out after 50 charge/discharge cycles shows minor Ni content deviation in LMO, but LZO-LMO still remains the stoichiometric ratio, because the Li2ZrO3 coating efficiently hinders the metal dissolution during charge/discharge. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.