The oxidation of formic acid at the Pd/C catalyst electrode is a completely irreversible kinetic process with the reaction order of 1.0. The oxidation rate of formic acid is increased with increasing the concentration of formic acid and is decreased with increasing H+ concentration. The apparent negative reaction order with respect to H+ is about -0.18 or -0.04 in H2SO4 or HClO4 solution respectively, because bisulfate anions would inhibit formic acid oxidation at some extent. The kinetic parameters, charge transfer coefficient and the diffusion coefficient of formic acid were obtained under the quasi steady-state conditions. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.