We report preparation of hydrophobic platinum-doped carbon aerogel (PtCA) catalyst and its characterization for catalytic exchange reactions between hydrogen isotopes. The PtCA powder was synthesized by sol–gel polymerization method, mixed with colloidal PTFE solution, and coated on Dixon rings to obtain hydrophobic catalyst. The Pt cluster size in PtCA powder was observed to vary from 3 to 5 nm for a change in resorcinol to alkali molar ratio in synthesis solution from 20 to 200. Transmission electron microscopy of powder showed that the Pt clusters were uniformally dispersed and Pt⁰ metallic content estimated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was found to be of ∼ 70%. The catalytic activity was found to depend on Pt cluster size and was higher for smaller cluster size. For the smallest achieved Pt cluster size of 3 nm, catalytic activity of ∼ 0.8 m³ (STP) s^-1 m^-3 was obtained for hydrogen isotope exchange in atmospheric pressure conditions.