▎ 摘　　要

Heteroatom-doped homogeneous M-N-C catalysts are recently emerging as a promising substitute to replace platinum-based noble metal catalysts for highly efficient oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Here we construct an electrocatalyst with atomically dispersed Cu atoms confined in N-doped graphene by a facile pyrolysis process. The extended X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy validates that the intrinsically active center is composed of a mixture of Cu-N-2 and Cu-N(4 )moieties. The designed catalyst exhibits outstanding ORR activity with onset (E-onset) and half-wave potential (E-1/2) at 0.869 V and 0.779 V respectively, and a smaller Tafel slope of 74 mV decade(-1), superior to the commercial Pt/C catalysts.