Porous hollow carbon nanofibers with tunable shell thicknesses from 2.5 to 13.5 nm have been synthesized via a hydrothermal approach by using multi-walled carbon nanotubes as the scaffolds and sucrose as carbon source. The thin, porous and non-graphitic carbon shells are revealed by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectra, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and nitrogen adsorption isotherms. In comparison with the pristine multi-walled carbon nanotubes, the as-prepared porous hollow carbon nanofibers exhibit the enhanced reversible capacities, cycling stabilities and rater performances when evaluated as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries.
