Poor electrochemical kinetics caused by the unstable structure for the dramatically volumetric expansion (>300%) hinders the application of silicon in rechargeable lithium ion batteries. Si@C-Ni-MOF composites with petal-like Ni-MOFs as the skeleton and Si@C nanoparticles as the active center were synthesized via facile solvothermal process. The resulting Ni-MOF-Si@C material maintains admirable stability on cycling, and its capacity remains 1545.3 mAh g(-1) with a high capacity retention rate of 99.79% after 300 cycles at the current density of 200 mA g(-1). The enhancement on the kinetics is obtained, attributing to the porous structure created by the petal-like Ni-MOFs and the strong interface bonding between Si@C and Ni-MOFs. (C) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.