BSTRACTNickel–Cobalt oxide nanotubes are prepared by a simple electrospinning technique based on a phase-separation mechanism. Extra tetraethyl orthosilicate (Si(OC
2
H
5
)
4
) is introduced and removed by design to obtain nanotube structure. The prepared nanotubes deliver remarkable electrochemical performance as the lithium-ion batteries anode materials. It possesses a capacity of 924 mAh/g after 95 cycles at 100 mA/g. At 2000 mA/g
it has a high capacity of 770 mAh/g
and still has 255 mAh/g at 1000 mA/g after 500 cycles. The outstanding electrochemical performance is attributed to the unique hierarchical tubular nanostructures design. This simple method opens new opportunities for fabricating practical nanostructured anode materials.