Spherical Ni(OH)(2) coated with Lu(OH)(3) was prepared by chemical surface precipitation, and the effects of Lu(OH)(3) coating were investigated on the electrochemical performances of Ni(OH)(2) electrodes through the constant current charge/discharge and cyclic voltammetric (CV) measurements. It was found that there was more beta-NiOOH phase in the charged electrodes using spherical Ni(OH)(2) coated with Lu(OH)(3), indicating that the charge efficiency apparently improved at high temperatures due to the Lu(OH)(3) coating. The CV results showed that oxygen evolution reaction was effectively restrained. The results proved that the Lu(OH)(3) coating an effective method to improve the high-temperature performances of Ni(OH)(2), and the optimum ratio of lutetium was about 0.8 mol%. (c) 2005 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.