Nitrogen and sulfur co-doped bio-carbon flocs (NSC) with large BET surface areas and porous structures are obtained via pyrolysis of zinc-based metal-organic coordination polymer (MOCP-Zn) that is synthesized through a hydrothermal reaction between zinc salt and polypeptides derived from chicken feather. The as-prepared carbon flocs exhibit a superior performance towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) both in alkaline and acid media. Especially, the as-prepared NSC-3.5 can be comparative to Pt/C, exhibiting a promising application in the acidic environment of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell. It is proven that the enhanced ORR activities can be attributed to the high content of pyridinic- and graphitic-type nitrogen and large surface areas with abundant porous structures. Moreover, the growth mechanism of nitrogen and sulfur co-doped bio-carbon materials from chicken feather via coordination reaction and biomineralization process is investigated. This study develops a new method to prepare nonmetal-doped bio-carbon materials from waste biomass with enhanced electrocatalytic performances for ORR. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.