Sulfur-doped ordered mesoporous carbons (OMC-S-X) (X=1, 2 and 3) with different sulfur contents were synthesized as metal-free electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectra (EDX), nitrogen adsorption-desorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) were employed to confirm the characterizations of OMC and OMC-S. The prepared OMC-S-3 exhibits high electrocatalytic activity, good stability and excellent tolerance to crossover effect for ORR. The high electrocatalytic activity of OMC-S-3 for ORR can be mainly ascribed to the doping of sulfur especially the existence of sulfide groups (-C-S-C-) which play an important role in promoting the ORE. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.