Formic acid fuel cell




Direct-formic acid fuel cells or DFAFCs are a subcategory of proton-exchange fuel cells where, the fuel, formic acid, is not reformed, but fed directly to the fuel cell. Their applications include small, portable electronics such as phones and laptop computers.

Advantages

Similar to hydrogen because it does not need to be done at high pressures and (or) low temperatures, as formic acid is a liquid at ambient temperature.

There are two important advantages that formic acid possesses over methanol for use in the fuel cell. First, formic acid does not cross over the polymer membrane, so its efficiency can be higher than that of methanol. Second, formic acid does not cause blindness as does methanol, making it a somewhat safer fuel in case of leakage.

Reactions

DFAFCs convert formic acid and cathode. Electrons are passed through an external circuit from anode to cathode to provide power to an external device.

Anode: HCOOH → CO2 + 2 H+ + 2 e-

Cathode: 1/2 O2 + 2 H+ + 2 e- → H2O

Net reaction: HCOOH + 1/2 O2 → CO2 + H2O

History

During previous investigations, researchers dismissed formic acid as a practical fuel because of the high electrochemical overvoltage shown by experiments: this meant the reaction appeared to be too difficult to be practical.

However, in recent years, other researchers (in particular Richard Masel's group at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) found that the reason for the low performance was the usage of direct methanol fuel cells.[1]

Tekion holds the exclusive license to formic-acid fuel cell technology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The company now is focusing on developing a miniature hybrid battery/fuel-cell unit called the Formira Power Pack and hopes to introduce the packs in the fourth quarter of 2007. The Power Packs rely on the fuel cell, instead of a conventional electrical source like a wall outlet, to recharge the batteries. When the fuel is exhausted, users simply replace the empty fuel cartridge with a fresh one. Because of the high power density of the fuel cell, it should provide about double the time between charges. This technology is expected to only cost about 10-15% more than traditional batteries, and it will result in total freedom from the power grid.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ S. Ha, R. Larsen, and R. I. Masel, "Performance characterization of Pd/C nanocatalyst for direct formic acid fuel cells," Journal of Power Sources, 144, 28-34 (2005)
  2. ^ http://www.chemicalprocessing.com/industrynews/2006/035.html


Fuel Cells
Types:  ZFC 
Other: Hydrogen Economy | Hydrogen storage | Hydrogen station | Hydrogen Vehicles
 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Formic_acid_fuel_cell". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.