To provide a manufacturing method for a porous electrode base material which has sufficient gas permeability and is excellent in conductivity in thickness and passing-through directions and has small variation of battery performance caused by variation of humidification conditions, to provide a membrane-electrode assembly, and to provide a fuel cell.

The manufacturing method for the porous electrode base material includes: a process (A) of dispersing short carbon fibers and short binder fibers in a two-dimensional plane and producing short carbon fiber paper; a process (B) of producing a precursor sheet by impregnating the short carbon fiber paper with a methanol solution which dissolves a phenol resin composition and polyvinylpyrrolidone; a process (C) of phase-separating the phenol resin composition and the polyvinylpyrrolidone in the precursor sheet; a process (D) of solidifying the phenol resin composition in the phase-separated precursor sheet; a process (E) of attaining the precursor sheet including the phenol resin composition removing methanol and the polyvinylpyrrolidone; and a process (F) of attaining a porous electrode base material by carbonizing the precursor sheet obtained in the process (E). These processes are carried out in the order in the manufacturing method for the porous electrode base material.

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