A nanofluidic direct formic acid fuel cell with a combined flow-through and air-breathing electrode for high performance.

The use of three-dimensional flow-through nanoporous electrodes and the merging of a flow-through and air-breathing cathode were explored and successfully applied in a formic acid air-breathing nanofluidic fuel cell. The effects of fuel concentration, reaction stoichiometry and catalyst mass loading were investigated, resulting in power densities ranging from 28 to 100 mW cm(-2).