Direct formic acid fuel cells

The performance of formic acid fuel oxidation on a solid PEM fuel cell at 60 °C is reported. We find that formic acid is an excellent fuel for a fuel cell. A model cell, using a proprietary anode catalyst produced currents up to 134 mA/cm² and power outputs up to 48.8 mW/cm². Open circuit potentials (OCPs) are about 0.72 V. The fuel cell runs successfully over formic acid concentrations between 5 and 20 M with little crossover or degradation in performance. The anodic polarization potential of formic acid is approximately 0.1 V lower than that for methanol on a standard Pt/Ru catalyst. These results show that formic acid fuel cells are attractive alternatives for small portable fuel cell applications.