A potential cathode material for lithium ion batteries has been developed using a boron polyanion substituted lithium iron manganese phosphate, LiFe0.4Mn0.6(PO4)(1 - x)(BO3)(x) (x = 0 to 0.03). Without any external carbon source, the material has been synthesized by solid-state reaction using ball-mill and was subsequently characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and galvanostatic charge-discharge measurement. The LiFe0.4Mn0.6(PO4)(1 - x)(BO3)(x) samples show a single-phase crystalline nature with X-ray diffraction analysis, and enhanced discharge capacity at various C-rates as compared to that of pure LiFe0.4Mn0.6PO4. Among several LiFe0.4Mn0.6(PO4)(1 - x)(BO3)(x) samples, LiFe0.4Mn0.6(PO4)(0.995)(BO3)(0.005) demonstrated the best cycleability, exhibiting an initial discharge capacity of 159.4 mAh g(-1) at 0.1 C and 113 mAh g(-1) at 3 C. LiFe0.4Mn0.6(PO4)(1 - x)(BO3)(x) demonstrates enhanced electro-chemical properties with excellent reversible cycling viaboron polyanion substitution. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.