It is imminently to seek for high energy density in addition to a sensational lifetime of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) to meet growing requisition in the energy storage application. Anode containing metal oxide composite is being thoroughly investigated for their higher capacity than that of the commercial graphite. A multiporous core-shell structured metal oxide composite anode possessing the excellent capacity and superb lifespan for LIBs is designed. In detail, metal oxide (i.e., MnO) is encapsulated in N-doped carbon shell (MnO@N-C) via coprecipitation-annealing technique. During annealing, abundant void space among MnO cores/between MnO cores and N-C shells is obtained. This space can efficaciously buffer volume changes of MnO upon cycles. Benefiting from the unique structure and heteroatom doping, the capacity of MnO@N-C microcube anode exhibits 576 mAh g(-1) at 5 A g(-1) with an ultra-long lifespan more than 3500 cycles. The connection between the electrode characteristics and structure is concurrently examined by adopting kinetic analysis. Finally, a full lithium-ion battery is presented, applying the MnO@N-C (anode) and Nick-rich layered oxide (cathode). It is believed that structural designing with heteroatom doping can be utilized in vaster fields for superior capabilities. (C) 2019 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.