Carbon decorated on commercial TiO2 nanoparticles (P25 and P90) with optimized carbon concentration and structure were fabricated by a facile process employing carbonization method. In addition, the raw materials for Carbon-TiO2 (C-TiO2) preparation are commercially available and relatively cheap and the preparation method is simple and easy to be scaled up, making the reported process a promising method for mass production of electrode materials for high performance lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The materials were applied as LIBs anodes and the electrochemical results showed that 1.9 wt% C decorated P90 (1.9% C-P90) possessed a very high initial discharge capacity of 231 mA h g(-1) and the capacity was retained at 173 mA h g(-1) after 100 cycles at a current density of 30 mA g(-1). Even at a high current density of 300 mA g(-1) it delivered a very stable reversible capacity of 130 mA h g(-1). The electrochemical performance of C-P90 was superior to C-P25 because of its higher specific surface area and larger anatase fraction that can accommodate more lithium ions. 1.9% carbon was found to form an optimized carbon layer on TiO2 that can improve the electronic conductivity. The simple method and cheap materials for electrode material preparation have great potential for commercialization. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.