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Plate-like LiFePO 4 nanocrystallites with preferential growth of the (010) lattice plane are successfully prepared by a low temperature synthesis using a binary mixed solvent system of water and ethylene glycol (EG). A series of analyses, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) were performed to characterize the structure and morphology of the as-obtained products. Compared with conventional LiFePO 4 nanoparticles, the LiFePO 4 nanoplates possess an enlarged (010) surface to volume ratio besides a reduced Li-ion transport length. Such preferential growth of the (010) lattice plane can strongly facilitate Li-diffusion and endow LiFePO 4 with an excellent high rate performance as a Li-ion battery (LIB) cathode material. The LiFePO 4 nanoplates exhibit a high Li-ion diffusion coefficient of 1.28 Â 10 À12 cm 2 s À1 compared to that of LiFePO 4 nanoparticles (i.e., 3.37 Â 10 À13 cm 2 s À1 ). The asobtained LiFePO 4 nanoplates deliver great capacities of 113.4 mA h g À1 and 85.6 mA h g À1 even at 10 C and 20 C respectively. In addition, micro-nano-structured morphology control provides an additional strategy to obtain excellent LiFePO 4 cathode materials with an excellent high rate performance and cycling stability.