Nanosized rutile TiO2 is one of the most promising candidates for anode material in lithium-ion micro-batteries owing to their smaller dimension in ab-plane resulting in an enhanced performance for area capacity. However, few reports have yet emerged up to date of rutile TiO2 nanorod arrays growing along c-axis for Li-ion battery electrode application. In this study, single-crystalline rutile TiO2 nanorod arrays growing directly on Ti foil substrates have been fabricated using a template-free method. These nanorods can significantly improve the electrochemical performance of rutile TiO2 in Li-ion batteries. The capacity increase is about 10 times in comparison with rutile TiO2 compact layer. (C) 2011 Elsevier RV. All rights reserved.