In the last decades, fuel cells have been considered as an alternative power source for electric portable devices. Direct formic acid fuel cells (DFAFC) have attracted particular interest, since formic acid is safe, environmentally-friendly and non toxic. Also, it exhibits high-energy density and fast oxidation kinetics compared with other fuels, such as methanol and ethanol [1]. Palladium electrocatalysts supported on different carbon materials have been widely used for the formic acid oxidation reaction (FAOR). However, further research is still necessary as Pd deactivates during the FAOR. In order to overcome this limitation, Pd-Metal alloys have been proposed [3-5]. Pd, and PdFe nanoparticles supported on the carbon nanofibers with and without functionalization (NFC and NFCox) have been used for the FAOR in acid media. Electrocatalysts were synthesized by the borohydride reduction method with a metal loading of 20 wt.%. The morphology, composition and structural properties of the electrocatalysts were studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The ROAF was evaluated in acid media in a conventional three-electrode cell by means of cyclic voltammetry (VC) and chronoamperometry (CA). The electrochemical behavior of Pd-based electrocatalysts for the FAOR showed that the functionalization of carbon nanofibers (NFCox) increased the electrocatalytic activity of Pd and PdFe electrocatalysts compared with the same electrocatalysts supported on NFC, as shown in Figure 1.

1. X. Yu, P. Pickup, Journal of Power Sources,. 182(124-132) (2008)
2. K. Jiang, H. Xuan, S. Zou, W. Bin, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 16(20360-20376) (2014)
3. H. Meng, F. Xie, J. Chen, P. Kang, Journal of Materials Chemistry., 21(11352-11358) (2011)
4. D. Morales, J. Ledesma, L. Godinez, H. Rodríguez, L. Álvarez, L. Arriaga, Journal of Power Sources., 195(461-465) (2010)
5. L. Zhang, L. Wan, Y. Ma, Y. Chen, Y. Zhou, Y. Tang, T. Lu, Applied Catalyst B: Environmental., 138-139(229-235) (2013).