Fe₃O₄ is considered as potential anode material for lithium- ion batteries with excellent lithium storage performance, but there are still issues of poor conductivity and volume expansion during charging and discharging. In this paper, L- arginine, p- phenylenediamine, and iron(III) nitrate nonahydrate were used as raw materials to synthesize iron-doped L-arginine polymer (W-Fe₃O₄@NC precursor) through solvent thermal reaction. Subsequently, the waxberry-like carbon-coated Fe₃O₄ composite (W-Fe₃O₄@NC) was prepared by carbonization of the W- Fe₃O₄@NC precursor. The morphology, surface chemical structure, porosity, and electrochemical performance as lithium-ion battery anode of W-Fe₃O₄@NC were characterized. Benefit from the unique waxberrylike shape, beneficial nitrogen doped, highly dispersed Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles, and uniform carbon coating, the specific capacity of W-Fe₃O₄@NC reaches to 815.1 mAh/g after 800 cycles at a current density of 1 A/g and still remains 232 mAh/g at a current density of 5 A/g, which surpass those of NC and commercial Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles, demonstrating excellent cycling stability and rate performance.