In this paper, a series of Ce-doped Li3V2(PO4)(3)/C composite cathode materials for Li-ion batteries were synthesized by a facile and fast microwave assisted sol-gel route. The investigation of the influence of Ce doping on the structural and electrochemical characteristics of Li3V2(PO4)(3)/C shows that the resulting composite exhibits smaller particle size, lower electron-transfer resistance, and faster lithium ion migration, which are attributed to improved lithium ion transfer by the Ce doping. At low charge/discharge rates, the Ce-doped Li3V1.98Ce0.02(PO4)(3)/C composite delivers a stable specific capacity of similar to 170 mAh g(-1) for over 100 cycles. At high rates (e.g. 10C), the Ce-doped composite is still able to deliver stable capacities of up to similar to 120 mAh g(-1) which is similar to 60% greater than its un-doped counterpart. (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.