In this critical review,metal oxides-based materials for lithium ion battery anodes are reviewed in detail together with the progress which is made in my lab on that topic.Their advantages,disadvantages,and performance in lithium ion batteries are discussed through extensive analysis of the literature,and new trends in materials development are also reviewed.Two important future research directions are proposed and performed in my lab,based on results published in the literature: the development of composite ad nanostructured metal oxides to overcome the major challenge posed by the high capacity of metal oxide anodes.