Recently, copper oxide (CuO) as promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has received much interest. Hybridizing CuO with carbon is considered as a valid way to improve the conductivity and alleviate the volume effect of CuO, but how to achieve more optimized utilization rate of CuO-based anodes still remains a big challenge for us. In this work, activated tube-like carbon (ATC) is firstly prepared by pre-carbonization followed by alkali etching process using palm tree bark hair as initial carbon source, then the ATC is used as carbon matrix to load CuO by a modified phase-transfer approach. As a result, ultrafine CuO nanoparticles decorated ATC (ATC/CuO) can be obtained. For comparison, we also synthesize tube-like carbon (TC) by a direct pyrolysis process, and obtain TC/CuO hybrid by similar loading method. The morphology, structure, composition and surface property of the two carbon matrixes and the corresponding C/CuO hybrids are all systematically investigated. The results show that ATC/CuO hybrid possesses rich C-O-Cu bond and unique ultrafine CuO structure, which is attributed to the co-effect of abundant oxygen-containing groups, large specific surface area and special microporous property of ATC matrix. Consequently, the ATC/CuO electrode exhibited much enhanced cycling stability and rate capability when compared to sole CuO and TC/CuO electrodes. Obviously, our work provides a good guidance on the design and development of advanced carbon/metal oxide-based anodes for LIBs. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.