The invention relates to a preparation method of a nanometer zirconia heat barrier coating which is mixed with rare-earth oxide and used for liquid-phase plasma spraying. The method comprises that precursor sol is used as a spraying raw material, atomized into fine liquid drops under atomized gas pressure, sent into plasma flame flow and sprayed and deposited on a matrix to obtain the nanometer zirconia heat barrier coating. The precursor sol is hydroxid precursor sol. According to weight proportion, the raw material includes 63 to 73 percent of ZrOCl2.8H2O and 27 to 37 percent of crystalline-state stabilizer oxide which is rare earth oxide. The invention can overcome the problems of poor sol distribution, poor sol flowing performance, chlorid ion erosion, poor sol granule atomizing effect, uneven granule sizes, and the like in the the traditional liquid-phase plasma spraying process. In the invention, a composite coating is prepared, and has the advantages of high depositing efficiency, low cost, wide spraying material, strong adaptability of the liquid-phase precursor, low heat conductivity, good heat and shock resistance, and the like.