Development of a High-Performance Ammonium Formate Fuel Cell

Directformate fuel cells are attractive due to their high theoreticalvoltage of 1.45 V, facile and complete formate oxidation in alkalinemedia, and ease of handling during storage and transportation. However,the presence of cations in the fuel solution only increases the weightload of the fuel cell system without contributing to electricity generation.In this work, an ammonium formate fuel cell is developed, which cannot only retain the advantages of formate but also substitute theNa(+)/K+ with ammonium (NH4 (+)) to release electrons for electricity generation. This fuel cellachieves a peak power density of 61 mW cm(-2) at 60 & DEG;C. By replacing pure oxygen with hydrogen peroxide and increasingthe temperature and fuel concentration, the peak power density isincreased to 337 mW cm(-2). In addition, a mathematicalmodel incorporating mass/charge transport and electrochemical reactionsis developed to illustrate the voltage losses.