Fabrication of advanced anode materials is indispensable for construction of high-performance lithium ion batteries. In this work, nickel oxide (NiO) nanospheres are fabricated by a facial one-step spray drying method. The as-prepared NiO nanospheres show diameters ranging from 100 to 600 nm and are composed of nanoparticles of 30-50 nm. As an anode for lithium ion batteries, the electrochemical properties of the NiO nanospheres are investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge/discharge tests. The specific reversible capacity of NiO nanospheres is 656 mA h g(-1) at 0.1 C, and 476 mA h g(-1) at 1 C. The improvement of electrochemical properties is attributed to nanosphere structure with large surface area and short ion/electron transfer path. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.