A novel direct preparation method was developed to prepare interconnected carbon-decorated TiO₂ nanocrystals. The as-prepared composite exhibited a morphology of interconnected 10 nm TiO₂ nanocrystals with uniform carbon coverage. As anode in lithium ion batteries, high reversible capacity of 184 mAh g^− 1 with 87.4% initial coulomb efficiency, outstanding rate performance and stable cycle life were observed, which was attributed to ultrafine particle size, uniform carbon coating and high preparation temperature.​