The utilization of MnO2 based anode materials is limited by poor cycling performance and low rate capacity due to chemical and mechanical degradations upon cycling. In this work, an effective strategy is implemented to mitigate the capacity fading of MnO2 at high rates by anchoring MnO2 nanorods on the surface of graphene. The intimate contact with graphene significantly improves the electrical conductivity of the MnO2 composites materials. Moreover, graphene can buffer the volume changes of MnO2 during the lithium insertion/extraction process. The MnO2/rGO composites exhibit a superior cycling performance and lithium-storage capacity. Under the current density of 0.5 A g(-1), the MnO2/rGO composites electrode could deliver reversible capacity as high as 600.3 mAh g(-1) after more than 650 cycles. Furthermore, at a high rate of 5 A g(-1), the MnO2/rGO composites electrode can still deliver reversible specific capacity of 168.2 mAh g(-1). (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.