MnO/C nanocomposites are successfully fabricated via a facile in situ interfacial polymerization followed by carbonization. The MnO/C nanocomposite exhibits unique one-dimensional core-shell nanostructure with an average diameter of 50 nm and a similar to 10 nm thick carbon shell that uniformly encapsulates the MnO core. When used as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries, the MnO/C composite nanowire shows a high reversible capacity of 903 mAh g(-1) at 100 mA g(-1) after 100 cycles and a high-rate specific capacity of 483 mAh g(-1) even at 2 A g(-1). In addition, the MnO/C anode demonstrates excellent recoverability when cycled at different cut-off voltages ranging from 1.5 to 3.0 V. The scalability and outstanding Li-ion storage properties enable the present synthesis strategy to open up the possibility of fabricating MnO/C nanocomposites for high-performance lithium-ion batteries. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.