Spinel lithium titanate (Li4Ti5O12) has attracted great interest as an anode material for lithium ion batteries due to its safe operation, low cost, and zero-strain effect during Li insertion/extraction. However, the poor rate capability caused by low electronic conductivity limits its practical use. We synthesized surface functionalized one-dimensional (1D) Li4Ti5O12 nanofibers using simple electrospinning and subsequent nitridation process. Uniformly coated conducting TiN/TiOxNy layer on the surface of Li4Ti5O12 nanofiber enables fast electron transport along its one dimensional geometry, which leads to significant improvement in rate capability. Nitridated Li4Ti5O12 nanofibers electrode delivers about 1.35 times larger discharge capacity than that of pristine nanofibers electrode at a current density of 10 C. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.