Porous Co3O4 nanostructured thin films are electrodeposited by controlling the concentration of Co(NO3)(2) aqueous solution on nickel sheets, and then sintered at 300 degrees C for 3 h. The as-prepared thin films are characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The electrochemical measurements show that the highly Porous Co3O4 thin film with the highest electrochemically active specific surface area (68.64 m(2) g(-1)) yields the best electrochemical performance compared with another, less-porous film and with a non-porous film. The highest specific capacity (513 mAh g(-1) after 50 cycles) is obtained from the thinnest film with Co3O4 loaded at rate of 0.05 mg cm(-2). The present research demonstrates that electrode morphology is one of the crucial factors that affect the electrochemical properties of electrodes. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.