Formic Acid as Methanol-alternative Fuel in Direct Methanol Fuel Cell

The performance of formic acid used as the methanol-alternative fuel in the direct methanol fuel cell was studied.It was found that although the energy density of formic acid is lower than 1/3 of that of(methanol),formic acid is still a good methanol-alternative fuel and could be hopeful to be used because the electrochemical oxidation of formic acid at the Pt-Ru/C electrode is much better than that of methanol.For(example),the peak potential and onset potential of the oxidation peak of formic acid at the Pt-Ru/C electrode are 120 and 300 mV more negative than those of methanol,respectively.In addition,the permeability of(formic) acid through the Nafion membrane is only 1/5 that of methanol.