The possibility to substitute a standard Pt/carbon-black/carbon-cloth oxygen-reducing cathode by buckypaper has been studied in a photoactivated fuel cell. It was found that a buckypaper bearing NiO can very well compete with a standard cathode, thus offering a Pt-free alternative. The buckypaper was made through a process of epoxidation of multiwall carbon nanotubes while NiO was casted through a simple procedure employing surfactant templates. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.