Zirconia-coated NiO powder was prepared by a newly developed surface-induced coating using thermal hydrolysis of Zr(NO 3 ) 2 .6H 2 O in a mixed solvent of alcohol and water. Amorphous zirconium hydroxide was uniformly coated on the surface of NiO powder with the thickness of 20 nm. The ZrO 2 coating layer was crystallized to tetragonal ZrO 2 with the size of 40-60 nm at 900 o C. The coated NiO powder containing 15 vol.% ZrO 2 , was found to have a similar isoelectric point to that of the ZrO 2 . The surface-induced ZrO 2 coating was a more efficient method for the prevention of Ni sintering than the mechanical mixing.