Novel platinum-macrocycle composite catalysts for direct formic acid fuel cells

A highly active catalyst for the electrochemical oxidation of formic acid for direct formic acid fuel cell is synthesized using a macrocycle as platinum’s co-catalyst. The resulting carbon-supported Pt–Ni(N,N′-mono-8-quinolyl-o-phenylenediamine) (hereafter referred to as Pt–Ni(mqph)), with a 50/50 ratio and heat-treated at 350 °C in Ar atmosphere, shows a high catalytic performance exceeding that of Pt-only catalysts in terms of oxidation onset potential and current density. The performance of such an anode composite catalyst in single direct formic acid fuel cell can reach up to 166 mW mg (Pt)−1, greatly surpassing that of 85 mW mg (Pt)−1 for Pt anode.