A facile and effective approach was developed for the preparation of mesoporous Fe-NC by pyrolyzing the mixture of FeCl2, urea, (NH4)(2)MoO2, phthalic anhydride and SBA-15, during which the in-situ formation of iron phthalocyanine is confirmed. The obtained catalyst exhibits high catalytic activity towards ORR, whose half-wave potential can be 53 mV more positive than that of commercial Pt/C catalyst. Besides, the catalyst also exhibits high selectivity of four electron path, along with excellent stability and methanol tolerance in alkaline media. Based on the characterization results, we suggest, the higher surface areas, highly porous structures induced by SBA-15 addition, as well as high graphitic N content should be the proper origins for its outstanding catalytic performance. (C) 2018 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.