A CoCO 3 -polypyrrole composite (CC-PPy) for lithium ion battery anodes was prepared by first synthesizing urchin-like CoCO 3 microspheres (CC) via a hydrothermal route and further modifying them with a PPy coating. The resulting CC-PPy exhibits excellent cycling stability, outstanding rate performance and a great recovery capability compared to CC, delivering a reversible capacity of 1070.7, 811.2, 737.6, 518.7, 504.5 and 559 mA h g À1 after 100 cycles at 0.1, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 C, respectively, and a recovery capacity of up to 1787 mA h g À1 after 500 cycles from 1 to 5 C. A more comprehensive lithium storage mechanism of CoCO 3 has been proposed to support the experimental data, which includes two-step conversion reactions with a total theoretical value of 7 Li per CoCO 3 . The 'first-order' reaction involves reduction of CoCO 3 to metallic Co and the formation of Li 2 CO 3 , and the second reaction involves the further reduction of Li 2 CO 3 to Li x C 2 (x ¼ 0, 1, 2), along with the formation of Li 2 O. The lithiation and delithiation processes of CC and CC-PPy have been compared based on their potential profiles and CV curves, which show clear two-order character. The kinetic factors for the superior performance of CC-PPy are analyzed based on the Nyquist plots. Furthermore, the transition from CoCO 3 to Li 2 CO 3 to Li 2 O and its reversibility is confirmed by ex situ IR spectra recorded at the different discharge-charge states of CC-PPy.