A lithium-ion battery cathode material, LiNi1/3Co1/3Al1/3O2, with excellent electrochemical properties was prepared by three-phase temperature sintering, using eutectic lithium salts (0.38LiOH center dot H2O-0.62LiNO(3)) mixed with the precursor Ni1/3Co1/3Al1/3(OH)(2). This method was simple and inexpensive, and the materials could be mixed uniformly at the eutectic melting point without any grinding. A well-layered alpha-NaFeO2 structure was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The ratio of characteristic diffraction peaks I(003)/I (104) reached 1.73. Charge-discharge testing of the synthesized powder showed an initial charge-discharge capacity of 151.5 mAh.g(-1) at a specific current of 0.2 C in the range 2.8-4.3 V up to 20 cycles with no noticeable capacity-fading (94.5% of the first discharge capacity), and reversible capacities of 133.7 and 120.9 mAh.g(-1) for specific currents of 1 C and 2 C at room temperature. The discharge capacity and capacity retention at 55 degrees C were substantially better than at room temperature. (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V.