A highly active and stable Fe-N-C catalyst with uniform atomic iron distribution is derived from ZIF-8.
An O2-free environment for preparing the Fe-doped ZIF-8 precursor is found to be crucial.
The Fe-N-C catalyst exhibited a high half-wave potential (0.82 V vs. RHE) and sufficient stability in acid.
Graphitized carbon in Fe-N-C catalysts is not a necessity for high ORR activity.