In this Letter, the electrochemical performance of the flowerlike rutile TiO2 nanorods as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries was investigated. The resulting flowerlike rutile TiO2 nanorods possessed much higher reversible capacity and cycling stability than that of nanosized rutile TiO2 previously reported in the literatures. These improved electrochemical performances may be attributed to the large electrode-electrolyte contact area offered by the flowerlike nanorods with a large specific surface area, which facilitated the lithium ion insertion and extraction. Crown Copyright (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.