FePO4 is an attractive cathode material for lithium batteries, but its practical capacity is limited by the poor lithium intercalation/deintercalation kinetics. In this paper, a mesoporous structure has been imported into FePO4 to improve the kinetics by a modified surfactant template method. Electrochemical tests showed that mesoporous FePO4 fired at 450 degrees C with P123/(Fe+P) molar ratio 0.039 delivered 120 mAh g(-1) at 0.1C and 65 mAh g(-1) at 3C, which was higher than that of reported amorphous and crystalline FePO4. These results help to understand the role of mesostructure in electrode materials for rechargeable lithium batteries. (c) 2005 The Electrochemical Society.