Research Article Organic Solvent’s Effect in the Deposition of Platinum Particles on MWCNTs for Oxygen Reduction Reaction Carolina Silva-Carrillo, 1 Edgar Alonso Reynoso-Soto, 1 Rosa María Félix-Navarro, 1 Shu Wai Lin-Ho, 1 Aline Díaz-Rivera, 1 Francisco Paraguay-Delgado, 2 José Álvaro Chávez-Carvayar, 3 and Gabriel Alonso-Núñez 4 1 Centro de Graduados e Investigaci´ on, Instituto Tecnol´ ogico de Tijuana, Apartado Postal 1166, 22000 Tijuana, BC, Mexico 2 Centro de Investigaci´ on en Materiales Avanzados, Miguel de Cervantes 120, 31109 Chihuahua, CHIH, Mexico 3 Instituto de Investigaci´ on en Materiales, Universidad Nacional Aut´ onoma de M´ exico, Circuito Exterior, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510 Coyoac´ an, DF, Mexico 4 Centro de Nanociencias y Nanotecnolog´ ıa, Universidad Nacional Aut´ onoma de M´ exico, Km 107 Carretera Tijuana-Ensenada, Apartado Postal 356, 22800 Ensenada, BC, Mexico Correspondence should be addressed to Edgar Alonso Reynoso-Soto; edgar.alonso@tectijuana.mx and Rosa Mar´ ıa F´ elix-Navarro; rmfelix@tectijuana.mx Received 24 July 2015; Revised 9 February 2016; Accepted 14 February 2016 Academic Editor: Xiao-Yu Yang Copyright © 2016 Carolina Silva-Carrillo et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. We reported the synthesis of platinum particles anchored on the surface of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Te synthesis of platinum particles was carried out by microemulsion method using hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as surfactant to enhance the dispersion of platinum particles in hexane (C6), heptane (C7), and octane (C8) solutions. Te efects of the microemulsion dispersion medium on the synthesis of platinum particles on MWCNTs (MWCNT/Pt) hybrid materials and their catalytic activities of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in HClO 4 were investigated. Te anchored platinum particles showed good dispersion on carbon nanotubes surface with the average particle sizes of 2.65 ± 0.60, 2.89 ± 0.68, and 0.97 ± 0.29 nm for the dispersion medium of C6, C7, and C8, respectively. Te experimental results of ORR experiments indicated a relationship between the size and the dispersion media of the platinum particles; also the catalytic activity of the anchored platinum on MWCNT particles strongly depends on the dispersion medium employed in the microemulsion process. 1. Introduction A fuel cell is an electrochemical device which converts free energy of a chemical reaction directly into electrical energy [1]. Te main advantages of fuel cells are their high efciency for electricity production of about 60% and practically zero emissions [2]. Te cathode compartment is very important for the fuel cell because it is where the oxygen reduction reac- tion (ORR) takes place. Te ORR is a sluggish reaction that consumes about 90% of total Pt content in PEM fuel cells [3]. Te sluggish kinetics of the ORR are the main factor afecting the energy conversion efciency of fuel cells [4, 5]. Improve- ment of the efciency of the catalyst by the development of Pt nanoparticles supported on carbonaceous materials with high surface area has been proposed as one of the most efec- tive approaches to reduce the Pt contents with good activity for the ORR [6–8]. Surface oxidation of Vulcan Carbon mate- rials as support for platinum nanoparticles can also increase the hydrophilicity of the surface, which can result in the decrease of gas permeability, as the pores become more likely to be flled with liquid water that can hinder gas transport [9]. Due to their unique electrical and structural properties, car- bon nanotubes (CNTs) are an attractive support material for Pt nanoparticles (Pt NPs). Carbon nanotubes have demon- strated the ability to carry large current densities and fast elec- tron transfer kinetics when used for electrochemical applica- tions [10]. Hindawi Publishing Corporation Journal of Nanomaterials Volume 2016, Article ID 5783920, 11 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/5783920