We designed am etal-free synthesis of carbon nanofiber based on ketene chemistry using phosphorus pentoxide (P 2 O 5 )a nd vegetable oil. Based on the characterization of intermediates,P 2 O 5 -oil reaction yielded most possibly alkylketenes,w hich polymerized into poly(ketene) with abundant enol groups.T he enol groups further reacted with P 2 O 5 , forcing the poly(ketene) to assemble into an ano-sized preassembly structure.M oderate heating transforms these structures into carbonaceaus nanofibers.T his approachi s applicable to other chemicals with similar structure to vegetable oil. The carbon nanofibers with P-O-C functionalization show relatively high graphitization degree and promising textural properties.T he C-O-P environment accounts for 66 at %o ft he total Pand creates as uperior thermal stability. As am odel application, aC DI system built of ac arbonnanofiber-based electrode countered by an activated carbonbased electrode exhibited exceptional performance.