A novel mesoporous carbon nanofibers (MCNF) have been successfully prepared as host materials for lithium-sulfur batteries by electrospinning method. The unique mesoporous and fiber structure not only minimizes polysulfides dissolution but also substantially buffers the volume expansion of sulfur during cycling as well as improving conductivity. As a result, the mesoporous carbon nanofibers sulfur (MCNF/S) composites exhibit excellent cycle performance. The MCNF/S composite electrodes deliver a high initial capacity of 1015 mAh g(-1) and maintain 721 mAh g(-1) after 500 cycles at 1 C. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.