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 (Bi 2 O 3 ) 0.054 (Co 2 O 3 ) 0.025 (Nb 2 O 5 ) 0.00075 (Y 2 O 3 ) 0.00025 , as the nucleation sites of ZnO, was prepared by ball milling and surface modification process and its effects on electrochemical performance of ZnO 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 14wt.%, 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.