Separation of Formate Ion from a Catalytic Mixture after a Hydrogenation Process of Bicarbonate Ion and Generation of Formic Acid—The Last Stage of the Formic Acid Cycle

Formic acid is recognized as a promising hydrogen carrier. It readily decomposes to release hydrogen (and carbon dioxide) in the presence of apposite catalysts. The main deficiency of this practice is that the reverse reaction, the hydrogenation of carbon dioxide to formic acid is an uphill reaction necessitating extreme conditions. Carbon dioxide should be converted to bicarbonate salts since their hydrogenation is reasonable for storing hydrogen. The related approach has a drawback as formate salts are produced. The latter has lower weight percentage of hydrogen and they must be converted to formic acid. The goals of our research were to separate formate salt from the reaction mixture and to convert it to formic acid. In this paper, we present a process that combines the advantages of both methodologies—formic acid is the carrier, but the hydrogen is charged to a bicarbonate ion. This stage completes the formic acid cycle (FAC), which could operate as a continuous process for the production and storage of hydrogen. Additional research, including proper rescaling and optimization, should be carried out in order to assess the potential of such a process as a basis for replacing the present day combustion of fossil fuels with hydrogen usage in fuel cells.