Amorphous structure and sulfur doping synergistically inducing defect-rich short carbon nanotubes as a superior anode material in lithium-ion batteries

•Short amorphous carbon nanotubes (SACTs) with a hierarchical pore structure is fabricated.•Defect-rich structures are induced synergistically by sulfur doping and the amorphous nature of SACTs•Defects endow the sulfur-doped SACTs with additional active sites and improve diffusion kinetics of Li ions.•Sulfur-doped SACTs features excellent high-rate capacity and cycling performance.