A series of Li2Fe1-xCexSiO4/C cathode materials with different cerium ions amounts (x = 0, 0.01, 0.03, 0.05) are prepared through sol-gel method. Effect of Ce3+ ions doping on the crystalline structure and electrochemical performance of Li2Fe1-xCexSiO4/C composites are investigated in detail. The results show that the valence state of cerium ions is +3 in doped Li2Fe1-xCexSiO4/C which having same crystalline structure to Li2FeSiO4/C composite without Ce3+ doping. The as-prepared Li2Fe1-xCexSiO4/C exhibits an excellent initial discharge specific capacity of 54.8 mAh/g at 0.1 C rate and reveals a better electrochemical performance than the Li2FeSiO4/C composite. The improved electrochemical performance of Li2Fe1-xCexSiO4/C is attributed to its smaller charge-transfer resistance and higher lithium ion diffusion coefficient, which due to the proper doping of in Fe2+ sites by Ce3+ ions. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.