Effects of iron catalyst on the carbonization of Loy Yang was studied by targetting fabrication of functional carbon materials from this coal. Peak separation of the carbon (002) region revealed the presence of at least three components, amorphous (A), turbostratic (T) and graphitic (G) components. The manner in the development of crystallite size of the T component was different among the samples with lower iron content (<0.5%Fe) and those with higher content (>5%Fe); i.e. the crystallite of the former group samples continuously growed, on the other hand the latter group showed a levelled growth in the crystallite size. The electrocatalytic activity of the samples with higher iron content had a good correlation with the crystallite size of the T component, however the samples with lower iron content did not. TEM observation confirmed that the presence of a special type of turbostratic structure-TS phase-in the samples with higher iron content.