A novel ZnO/conductive-ceramic nanocomposite was prepared by a homogeneous precipitation method. The conductive ceramic with the nominal chemical composition of (ZnO)(0.92)(Bi2O3)(0.054)(Co2O3)(0.025)(Nb2O5)(0.00075)(Y2O3)(0.00025), as the nucleation sites of ZnO, was prepared by ball milling and surface modification process and its effects on electrochemical performance of ZnCl were investigated by charge/discharge cycling, slow rate cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Compared with pure ZnO, the ZnO/conductive-ceramic electrode exhibited improved electrochemical properties, such as superior cycle stability, higher discharge capacity and utilization ratio. When the conductive ceramic content reached 14 wt.%, the discharge capacity of the ZnO/conductive-ceramic nanocomposite hardly declined over 50 cycling test, the average utilization ratio could reach 99.5%, and the electrodes had no obvious weight loss after cycling tests. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.