One dimensional Li2MoO4 nanostructures including nanorods and nanotubes have been successfully fabricated via a simple sol-gel method adding Li2CO3 and MoO3 powders into distilled water with citric acid as an assistant agent and carbon source. Our experimental results show that the formation of the one dimensional nanostructure morphology is evaporation and crystallization process with self-adjusting into a rod-like hexagonal cross-section structure, while the citric acid played an important role during the formation of Li2MoO4 nanotubes under the acidic environment by capping, stabilizing the [1010) facet of Li2MoO4 structure and controlling the concentration of Ir (pH value) of the aqueous solution. Finally, basic electrochemical performance of these one dimensional Li2MoO4 nanostructures including nanorods and nanotubes evaluated as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are discussed, for comparison, the properties of carbon-free powder sample synthesized by solid-state reaction are also displayed. Experimental results show that different morphology and carbon-coating on the surface have an important influence on electrochemical performance. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.