The electroreduction of oxygen requires platinum (Pt)-based catalyst; however, Pt is extremely expensive and needs a systematic design of a cost effective electrocatalyst, without sacrificing its catalytic activity. Herein, firstly we synthesized nitrogen (-N) and sulphur (-S) co-doped carbon based quantum dots (NSCDs), which were then self-assembled on exfoliated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) to prepare N- and S-co-doped multiwalled carbon nanotubes (NSCD/C) in the final step. Morphological study reveals a surface defects on CNT sidewalls and it has been further confirmed by Raman analysis. The elemental composition and its chemical environment were confirmed through energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) respectively. Importantly, the electrochemical results show interesting oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) properties of NSCD/C-600 catalyst (N- & S-co-doped MWCNTs annealed at 600 degrees C) with an onset potential (E-onset) of 0.87 V vs RHE and a substantial limiting current density (J(L)) of 5.0 mA cm(-2) at 1600 rpm. Additionally, prepared catalyst shows a single step nearly 4-electron transfer pathway, signifying first order kinetics similar to that of Pt based catalyst. Further studies show that the catalyst exhibiting much better stability and higher resistance to methanol oxidation as compared to commercial Pt/C catalyst. The enhanced electrochemical activity can be attributed due to the presence of more defect sites in the carbon nanotubes as well as synergistic effect between both -N and -S co-doping in exfoliated CNTs, further leading to increase in both active doping sites and conductivity. Hence, this report provides scope to replace precious noble metal based catalysts with metal-free catalysts such as NSCD/C-600 in cathode compartment for low-temperature fuel cells (LTFCs) applications under alkaline condition. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.