We show that employing single wall carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as the conducting agent significantly increases the capacity of silicon oxycarbide anodes at high C-rates. In these anodes 515 mAh g(-1) can be extracted in just over 3 min. The capacity decreases to 300 mAh g(-1) at the same extraction rate when carbon black is used as the conducting agent. The CNT anodes have good cyclic stability, retaining 89.2% of initial capacity after 40 cycles. The coulombic efficiency ranges from 95% to 100%. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.