Hollow carbon nanospheres embedded with ultrafine Fe3O4 nanoparticles (Fe3O4@HCNS) were synthesized by using carboxyl functionalized polystyrene latexes as template and poly dopamine as carbon precursor. The ultrafine Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) had a small size of 3 similar to 5 nm and the HCNS had a thin shell thickness of 15 nm in the Fe3O4@HCNS. As a promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries, the Fe3O4@HCNS exhibited high reversible capacity, excellent cycling stability (1380 mA h g(-1) after 200 cycles at 1 A g(-1)) and high-rate capability (475 mA h g(-1) at 5 A g(-1), 290 mA h g(-1) at 10 A g(-1)). The outstanding performance was attributed to the unique structure of the Fe3O4@HCNS, which greatly shorten the path of Li ions intercalation during charging and discharging. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.