Novel porous cage-like carbon (C)/nano-Si nanocomposites as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) was prepared based on nano-Si@zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIF-8)-templated method. In this strategy, p-aminobenzoic acid was initially grafted onto nano-Si to form benzoic acid-functionalized nano-Si, and then nano-Si@ZIF-8 was constructed by alternately growing Zn(NO3)(2)center dot 6H(2)O and 2-methylimidazolate on benzoic acid-functionalized nano-Si under ultrasound. The novel porous cage-like nano-Si/C nanocomposites were fabricated by pyrolyzing the resulted nano-Si@ZIF-8 and washing with HCl to remove off ZnO. Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, Raman spectra and N-2 adsorption/desorption isotherms were employed to characterize the porous cage-like nano-Si/C nanocomposites. The resulted nano-Si/C nanocomposites as anode materials for LIBs showed a high reversible capacity of similar to 1168 mA h g(-1) at 100 mA g(-1) after 100 cycles, which was higher than many previously reported Si/C nanocomposites. The porous nanostructure, high specific surface area and good electrical conductivity of the cage-like nano-Si/C nanocomposites contributed together to the good performance for LIBs. It might open up a new way for application of silicon materials. (C)2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.