This paper reports a fast microwave-assisted solvothermal approach to fabricate flower-like SnS2 and SnO2 nanostructures. The synthetic conditions such as microwave-irradiation temperature, reaction time and precursor concentration are found to have critical influences on the product morphologies and sizes. When used as anode materials for rechargeable Li-ion batteries, flower-like SnO2 products exhibit better electrochemical properties than as-prepared flower-like SnS2 materials. A large reversible capacity of 717 mA h g(-1) is observed for SnO2 nanoflowers with a good cycliability at 100 mA g(-1). Moreover, SnO2 nanoflowers exhibit superior high-rate performances. Highly stable capacities of 667 and 532 mA h g(-1) are achieved at 1000 mA g(-1) and 2000 mA g(-1) respectively. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.