Porous NiCo2O4 microflowers having very high Brunner-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area (similar to 109.283 m(2)/g) are fabricated by a facile solvothermal method followed by calcinating the Co-Ni hydroxides precursor in air. The as-prepared porous NiCo2O4 microflowers exhibit excellent cycling stability (952 mA h g(-1) at a current density of 100 mA g(-1) after 60 cycles and 720 mA h g(-1) at a current density of 500 mA g(-1) after 100 cycles). This outstanding electrochemical performance is attributed to the unique hierarchical structure and high porosity, which can provide enough space to buffer the volume expansion during the discharge and charge processes, increase the contact area between the electrode and electrolyte, and reduce the transport lengths of both lithium ions and electrons. The porous NiCo2O4 microflowers show great potential in high-capacity anode materials for next-generation lithium-ion batteries. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.