A comprehensive electrochemical study of crystalline iron oxide nanotube arrays grown in a highly ordered form with a high aspect ratio is presented. Nanotube arrays, thickness of $5 mm and tube diameter $100 nm, were synthesized through an optimized twostep anodization technique. The morphology and the chemical composition of the resulting materials were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Rietveld analysis and Raman spectroscopy. The electrochemical response was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge/discharge cycling, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy on cells with Li metal as the counter and reference electrodes. The results have shown an excellent electrochemical response in terms of charge/discharge capacity (2775 mAhcm À2 at 100 mAcm
À2) and rate capability (150 mAhcm À2 at 800 mAcm
À2). Cyclic performance was also exceptional as a high reversible capacity (350 mAhcm À2 at 200 mA cm
À2) was retained for 100 charge/discharge cycles. Such an enhanced electrochemical response is attributed to the unidirectional morphology of the nanotubes with high aspect ratio, favoring fast Li þ ion diffusion and improved electron transport. Also, avoiding use of binder and conductive carbon agents contribute towards high energy density of the anode material. 1 Introduction Li-ion battery (LIB) has shown a great potential to fulfill the growing energy demands for hybrid electric vehicle, smart grid applications, and portable electronic devices, due to its advantages such as high power and energy density, long cycle life and structure stability [1]. The current LIB industry has been primarily dominated by graphite as anode material due to its good cyclic performance, safety features, and abundant availability [2,3]. However, graphite has certain limitations, such as low rate ability, metallic lithium dendrite formation due to low lithiation potential ($0 V vs. Li/Li þ ), and co-intercalation of solvated ions in the structure [4]. In a quest to overcome the aforementioned limitations of graphite, the focus of current research is to improve the performance either by bringing innovative variations in its structure or completely replacing it with other better anode materials.Transition metal oxides, over the years, have been demonstrated as suitable replacement to graphite as anode