A novel dispersed structure Co2SnO4/Co3O4 composite has been successfully synthesized by a conventional co-precipitation method with certain amount of NaOH concentration. The obtained composite exhibits dispersed structure with small spherical nanocrystals adhering to the surface of large polyhedral particles, which has been studied as an anode material in lithium-ion battery. Galvanostatic charge-discharge and cyclic voltammetry has been conducted to measure the electrochemical properties of the material. The results show that Co(2)Sna4/Co3O4 composite demonstrates good reversible capacity of 702.5 mA hg(-1) after 50 cycles at a current density of 100 mA hg(-1), much better than that of pure Co3O4 (375.1 mA hg(-1)) and pure Co2SnO4 (194.1 mAhg(-1)). This material also presents improved rate performance with capacity retention of 71.1% when the current ranges from 100 mAg(-1) to 1000 mAg(-1). The excellent electrochemical performance of the as-prepared dispersed structure Co2SnO4/Co5O4 composite could be attributed to the good dispersibility of nanoparticles which can effectively alleviate the volume expansion and improve the conductivity, thus enhance the cycling stability. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.