N-doped carbon materials of various morphologies (carbon platelets, carbon nanotubes) were prepared by simultaneous carbonization of CH3CN and decomposition of Mg-Co-Al layered double hydroxides (LDHs) at 600, 700 and 800 degrees C followed by treatment with HCl. Several techniques including powder X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, elemental analysis, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and nitrogen sorption were applied to describe their physicochemical features. The electrocatalytic performance of N-doped carbon materials for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) was evaluated using rotating disk electrode (RDE) and cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements in alkaline solution. The samples prepared at 600 and 700 degrees C appear to be more active for ORR than that prepared at 800 degrees C. Higher activity of C-600 and C-700 is associated with higher contribution of carbon platelets providing higher specific surface area and offering higher concentration of the active sites. The contribution of carbon tubular nanostructures in C-600, C-700 and C-800 increases with increasing synthesis temperature. The presence of carbon nanotubes seems to be not advantageous for ORR performance. The N-doped carbon materials are able to catalyze the oxygen reduction reaction by 2 and 4 electrons. The order of selectivity for 4-electron reduction is the following: C-800

Keywords:carbon nanotube;layered double hydroxide;nitrogen-doped carbon;catalytic chemical vapour deposition;oxygen reduction reaction