In this work, morphology-controlled lithium cobalt oxides (LCO) were obtained by a simple two-step method that involves a Co3O4 synthetic process, in which cubic and spherical Co3O4 were prepared by a hydrothermal method and a subsequent lithiation process with Li2CO3. The structures and morphologies of two materials were investigated by XRD, SEM and TEM. In contrast with the LCO prepared by using commercial Co3O4 precursor, the cubic and spherical LCO materials have an excellent performance in cyclic stability and rate capacity which is attributed to the better fluidity and less agglomeration with specific morphology of LCO materials. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.