We report here a polymer-templated hydrothermal growth method and subsequent calcination to achieve carbon coated hollow CuFe2O4 spheres (H-CuFe2O4@C). This material, when used as anode for Li-ion battery, retains a high specific capacity of 550 mAh g(-1) even after the 70th cycle, which is much higher than those of both CuFe2O4@C (similar to 300 mAh g(-1)) and H-CuFe2O4 (similar to 120 mAh g(-1)). And galvanostatic cycling at different current densities reveals that a capacity of 480 mAh g(-1), 91% recovery of the specific capacity cycling at 100 mAg(-1), can be obtained even after 50 cycles running from 100 to 1600 mAg(-1). The significantly enhanced electrochemical performances of H-CuFe2O4@C with regard to Li-ion storage are ascribed to the following factors: (1) the hollow void, which could mitigate the pulverization of electrode and facilitate the lithium-ion, electron and electrolyte transport; (2) the conductive carbon coating, which could enhance the conductivity, alleviate the agglomeration problem, prevent the formation of an overly thick SEI film and buffer the electrode. Such a structural motif of H-CuFe2O4@C is promising, for electrode materials of LIBs, and points out a general strategy for creating other hollow-shell electrode materials with improved electrochemical performances. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.