In the present work, a novel metal-free ORR electrocatalyst, with large specific surface area (2600 m(2) g(-1)), high content of N dopants (3.12 at.%) and 3D cross-linking hierarchically porous structure (abbreviated as LHNHPC) is readily prepared by using a modified classical carbon-aerogel method with NH3 as the activating agent. Compared with benchmark Pt/C catalyst, it is found that, LHNHPC exhibits similar electrocatalytic activity towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), superior durability and excellent methanol tolerance in basic media. The above electrochemical properties of LHNHPC are mainly attributed to the synergistic contribution of its unique hierarchical pore structure, the rich N doping and the large surface area. It can be anticipated that the proposed two-step process could be used for mass production of metal free electrocatalysts for a wide range of electrochemical devices including fuel cells and metal-air batteries. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.