An activated carbon cloth (ACC) was prepared by pyrolysis under nitrogen. The ACC presents a very high surface area and a very narrow micropore size distribution which remained stable upon subsequent treatments. The microporous ACC was oxidized and loaded with platinum metal by cationic exchange. Electron microscopy revealed that the metal particles were homogeneously distributed inside the carbon fibers in the form of 2-3 nm diameter particles. Hydrogen and carbon monoxide adsorption were used to determine the dispersion of the metal species and was found to be 14%. Pt/ACC catalysts exhibited a high activity in D-glucose hydrogenation and gave higher yields in D-sorbitol (>99.5%) than Pt/C catalysts prepared from carbon powder or extrudates. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.