There is an ever-increasing interest in new materials that can extend the current performance of battery electrodes materials in terms of longer cyclability, higher energy density and higher power density. Our research groups have established a route for the fabrication of highperformance anodes for rechargeable Li-ion batteries produced by nano structuring of transition metal oxides on a conductive support. In a recent work, we demonstrated a hybrid material of MnO₂ directly grown onto fabrics of carbon nanotube fibers, which exhibits notable specific capacities over 1100 and 500 mA h g1 at discharge current densities of 25 mA g⁻¹ and 5 A g⁻¹, respectively, with a Coulombic efficiency of 97.5%. Combined with 97% capacity retention after 1500 cycles at a current density of 5 A g⁻¹, both capacity and stability are significantly above literature data. Detailed investigations involving