A highly active electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction, manganese modified glycine derivative-carbon (Mn-CNx), is synthesized by a two-step carbonizing process. X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy are used to characterize structure and morphology of the catalysts. Electrochemical tests show that Mn-CNx has higher catalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction than CNx derived glycine and Mn modified Vulcan carbon. Moreover, the half-wave potential of Mn-CNx is only 12 mV lower than that of commercial Pt/C. Mn-CNx also has excellent durability to methanol crossover in alkaline solution, and thus provides a promising low cost, non-precious metal cathode catalyst for fuel cells. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.