We herein report a new type of direct formate fuel cell (DFFC) coupling an alkaline formate anode with an acid peroxide cathode (DFPFC), and its theoretical cell voltage reaches as high as 2.83 V. A proof-of-concept experimental study indicates that when using the as-proposed spontaneous-deposited PdAu foam electrodes, the DFPFC can yield an open-circuit voltage of 1.51 V and a peak power density of 331 mW cm(-2) at 60 degrees C, which are higher than the state-of-the-art anion-exchange membrane DFFC. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.