A hybrid material of carbon coated Fe3O4(Fe3O4@C) is synthesized by chemical vapor deposition methodusing Fe2O3as starting material and acetylene as carbon source. The obtained material is Fe3O4spheres of∼400 nm coated by thin carbon layer with a thickness of ∼10 nm. As an anode material for lithium ion bat-teries, Fe3O4@C shows an improved electrochemical performance in the reversible capacity and cyclingstability, together with excellent rate capability. The performance is much better than the results obtainedfrom bare Fe2O3and commercial Fe3O4of the same size. In addition to the comparison of electrochemi-cal impedance spectra of the Fe2O3, Fe3O4and Fe3O4@C electrodes before and after 50 charge/dischargecycles, a surface contrast of the three electrodes before and after cycling is systematically investigated toexplore the influence of carbon layer on the electrochemical performance of the Fe3O4spheres.