We first report the pure HxMoO3 nanobelts as anode for lithium-ion batteries by a facile hydrothermal with ammonium heptamolybdate tetrahydrate ((NH4)6Mo(7)O(24)center dot 4H(2)O) and hydrochloric acid (HCl). Owing to hydrogen-doping, Mo5+ exists in the HxMoO3 nanobelt, which may release extra electrons. Therefore, the electric conductance of HxMoO3 nanobelt is enhanced greatly. Moreover, the content of hydrogen can't be high, since the ordered structure deteriorates when amount of hydrogen increasing. The H0.28MoO3 nanobelts we designed exhibit outstanding specific capacity and rate performance. The stable capacity of 920 mAh g (1) is obtained after 25 charge/discharge cycles at 100 mA g (1). At high current densities such as 1, 2, 5 and 10 A g (1), the H0.28MoO3 electrode delivers specific capacities of about 600, 500, 420, 300 mAh g (1), respectively. Even after 450 charge discharge cycles at 1 A g (1), the performance of our materials can maintain the capacity of about 550 mAh g (1). Furthermore, we provide more discussion about the lithium storage mechanism of HxMoO3 nanobelts through ex situ XRD and FESEM. By comparing HxMoO3 with different X, we find that low content of hydrogen can greatly improve the performance of alpha-MoO3 electrodes in Li-ion batteries. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.