The morphology-controlled carbon hollow particles, derived from resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) particles, were prepared by using an (oil phase) O/(water phase) W/(oil phase) 0 inverse-emulsion system which was formed by adding RF precursor (water phase) to n-hexane (oil phase) with Span-80 as surfactant and the following carbonization. This simple method led to the formation of various morphologies of RF carbon precursor particles such as hollow spheres, bowl-like hollow structures, microcapsules, or solid microspheres by adjusting the pH values of the RF precursor. The synthesized carbon particles exhibited porous characters with the surface area of 659 m(2) g(-1) and the total pore volume of 0.44 cm(3) g(-1). Additionally, the electrochemical behavior of the typical RF carbon particles in lithium-ion batteries revealed that the RF carbon microcapsules displayed a high initial discharge capacity of 1059 mAh g(-1) and stabilized at about 330 mAh g(-1), indicating its excellent power property and cycle durability. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.