Pristine and MgO-coated 0.5Li(2)MnO(3)-0.5LiNi(0.5)Mn(0.5)O(2) (LLNMO) composites were synthesized by carbonate based co-precipitation method for cathode material in Li-ion battery. Xray diffraction confirmed the layered structure of pure material and no major change in crystal structure with MgO-coating. Raman spectroscopy revealed ionic arrangement corresponding to space group of C2/m and R-3m for Li2MnO3 and LiNi0.5Mn0.5O2, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy shows the primary particle size to be less than 0.5 mu m. The observed increase in charge/discharge capacity with number of cycles can be attributed to more activation of Li2MnO3. However, MgO-coated 0.5Li(2)MnO(3)-0.5LiNi(0.5)Mn(0.5)O(2) composite cathode showed good cyclability and columbic efficiency, where lower surface layer resistance may contribute to better performance with MgO-coated LLNMO. Copyright (C) 2015, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.