In this study, fine cathode materials Fe0.8Ni0.2S2 and Fe0.9Ni0.1S2, with mean particle sizes of 3.39 mu m and 2.79 mu m, respectively, can be prepared simply through mechanical alloying (MA). The contents of nickel show a significant effect on the electrochemical behavior of the composites, as shown the charge/discharge capacity of 320/285 mAh/g is maintained for over 20 cycles for the Li/Fe0.8Ni0.2S2 cell, higher than that for the Li/Fe0.9Ni0.1S2 with 284/233 mAh/g when tested ranging from 0.8 to 2.4 Vat 0.1 C. In addition, the electronic conductivity seemed also enhanced with high nickel doping content, leading to the improvement of the cycling stability of the FeS2 based electrodes. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.