Nanostructured Zr-doped (1at.%) TiO2(anatase) have been synthesized via a template sol–gel method on a carbon fiber. Scanning electron microscopy investigation shows that material consisted of microtubes (length of 10–300μm, outer diameter of 3–5μm) composed of nanoparticles with a size of 15–25nm. The material was investigated as Li-ion battery anode. Zr-doped TiO2 shows significantly higher reversible capacity (140mAhg−1) after 20-fold cycling at 0.1C-rate in the range 3–1V in comparison with undoped titania (65mAhg−1).