High active FeB alloy was prepared by an electric arc method, and used as the anode material for alkaline secondary batteries. The structural characteristics of the as-prepared FeB alloy were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and the electrochemical performances were investigated using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and charge-discharge test. The FeB alloy achieves an excellent reversible capacity of 312 mA h/g as well as a good cycleability, and is proved to be a promising low-cost and high performance anode material for alkaline secondary batteries. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.