We prepared SnO nanoparticles (SnO-S) and SnO center dot CoO nanocomposites (SnO center dot CoO-B) as anodes for lithium ion batteries (LIBs) by chemical and ball-milling approaches, respectively. They are characterized by X-ray diffraction and TEM techniques. The Li- storage performance are evaluated by galvanostatic cycling and cyclic voltammetry. The SnO-S and SnO center dot CoO-B showed improved cycling performance due to their finite particle size (i.e. nano-size) and presence of secondary phase (CoO). Better cycling stability is noticed for SnO center dot CoO-B with the expense of their reversible capacity. Also, addition of carbon nanotubes (CNT) to SnO-S further improved the cycling performance of SnO-S. When cycled at 60 mA g(-1), the first-cycle reversible capacities of 635, 590 and 460 (+/- 10) mA hg(-1) are noticed for SnO-S, SnO@CNT and SnO center dot CoO-B, respectively. The capacity fading observed are 3.7 and 1.8 mA hg(-1) per cycle for SnO-S and SnO@CNT, respectively; whereas 1-1.2 mA h g(-1) per cycle for SnO center dot CoO-B. All the samples show high coulombic efficiency, 96-98% in the range of 5-50 cycles. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.