Graphite anodes in commercialized lithium ion batteries are meeting the bottleneck for future high-performance electronic devices. Strategies has been applied to improve the cycle and rate capacity of the anode activematerials. Herein, a two-step hydrothermal approach is presented to synthesize TiO2@MoS2/C as enhanced anodic electrode. The TiO2@MoS2/C electrode delivers a satisfying cycle performance of 643.4 mAh/g on average at a current of 100 mA/g upon 100 cycles. The comparison study shows that TiO2@MoS2/C are superior to its individual part when assembled into batteries. The result also demonstrates that the support from TiO2 nanosheet arrays is essential to achieve both improved cycle and rate performance. Without TiO2 scaffold as an intermediate, MoS2/C is not able to firmly attach to Ti substrate and tends to be exfoliated upon cycling. Besides, the presence of carbon remarkably improves the poor conductivity of TiO2 and MoS2, which is beneficial to elevate rate capacity at high currents. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.