The well-defined mesoporous nanostructure electrodes have been known to have improved lithium ion reaction properties such as the lithium ion insertion/desertion reaction, cyclability, and high rate performance. We prepared mesoporous molybdenum nitride nanobelts via a template-free synthesis as an anode for lithium-ion batteries. The as-prepared molybdenum nitride nanobelts (meso-Mo2N NBs) exhibited face-centered cubic Mo2N phase, well-defined mesoporous structure, and growth of [100] direction with 1-dimensional structure. The meso-Mo2N NBs showed the improved electrochemical reaction properties of lithium ions such as high specific capacity and high rate cycling performance due to low transport resistance and high lithium ion diffusion coefficient. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.