Doped carbon catalyst Fe/oPD–Mela was prepared by pyrolyzing a hybrid precursor.
The catalyst shows graphene-like structure with high surface area up to 384 m2 g−1.
The catalyst exhibits superior ORR activity to commercial Pt/C in alkaline medium.
The high performance of the catalyst may be caused by its high active N content.
ORR reaction changed from the 2e− process to the 4e− process by adding melamine.