Significant effort has been made to explore high-performance anode materials for flexible lithium-ion batteries. We report a facile hydrothermal route to synthesis self-organized bunched akaganeite (beta-FeOOH) nanorod arrays directly grown on carbon cloth (CC/beta-FeOOH NRAs). Interestingly, the single nanorod is assembled by numerous small nanowires. A possible growth mechanism for this unique structure is proposed. Owning to the essential crystal structure of beta-FeOOH (body-centered cubic), porous morphology, high surface area and direct growth on current collector, the prepared CC/beta-FeOOH NRAs manifest a very high reversible capacity of approximate to 2840 mAh g(-1) (2.21 mAh cm(-2)), remarkable rate capability 568 mAh g(-1) (0.43 mAh cm(-2)) at 10C, stable cycling performance and greater mechanical strength. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.