Editing Formic acid (section)

== Uses ==
===Agriculture===
A major use of formic acid is as a [[preservative]] and [[bacteria|antibacterial]] agent in livestock feed. It arrests certain decay processes and causes the feed to retain its nutritive value longer,

In Europe, it is applied on [[silage]], including fresh hay, to promote the fermentation of [[lactic acid]] and to suppress the formation of [[butyric acid]]; it also allows fermentation to occur quickly, and at a lower temperature, reducing the loss of nutritional value.<ref name = Ullmann_2009/> It is widely used to preserve winter feed for [[cattle]],<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=7IrGwQTt1aMC&dq=formic+acid++winter+feed+for+cattle&pg=PA31 Organic Acids and Food Preservation], Maria M. Theron, J. F. Rykers Lues</ref> and is sometimes added to [[poultry]] feed to kill ''[[Escherichia coli|E. coli]]'' bacteria.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1093/japr/14.4.750 |title=Alternatives to Antibiotics for Organic Poultry Production |journal=The Journal of Applied Poultry Research |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=750 |year=2005 |last1=Griggs |first1=J. P |last2=Jacob |first2=J. P |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.3382/japr.2006-00116 |title=Effect of Formic Acid and Plant Extracts on Growth, Nutrient Digestibility, Intestine Mucosa Morphology, and Meat Yield of Broilers |journal=The Journal of Applied Poultry Research |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=555 |year=2007 |last1=Garcia |first1=V |last2=Catala-Gregori |first2=P |last3=Hernandez |first3=F |last4=Megias |first4=M. D |last5=Madrid |first5=J |doi-access=free }}</ref> Use as a preservative for silage and other animal feed constituted 30% of the global consumption in 2009.<ref name=CEH/>

[[Beekeeper]]s use formic acid as a [[miticide]] against the tracheal mite (''[[Acarapis woodi]]'') and the [[Varroa destructor|''Varroa destructor'' mite]] and [[Varroa jacobsoni|''Varroa jacobsoni'' mite]].<ref>{{cite journal |author= Hoppe, H. |author2=Ritter, W. |author3=Stephen, E. W. C.|year= 1989 |title= The control of parasitic bee mites: Varroa jacobsoni, Acarapis woodi and Tropilaelaps clareae with formic acid |journal= American Bee Journal}}</ref>

===Energy===
Formic acid can be used directly in [[formic acid fuel cell]]s or indirectly in hydrogen [[fuel cell]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.jpowsour.2004.12.031 |title=Performance characterization of Pd/C nanocatalyst for direct formic acid fuel cells |journal=Journal of Power Sources |volume=144 |issue=1 |pages=28–34 |year=2005 |last1=Ha |first1=S |last2=Larsen |first2=R |last3=Masel |first3=R.I |bibcode=2005JPS...144...28H }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Ant power: Take a ride on a bus that runs on formic acid |author=Jorn Madslien |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-40403351 |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=27 June 2017 |access-date=11 July 2017}}</ref>

Electrolytic conversion of electrical energy to chemical fuel has been proposed as a large-scale source of formate by various groups.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Yishai|first1=Oren|last2=Lindner|first2=Steffen N|last3=Gonzalez de la Cruz|first3=Jorge|last4=Tenenboim|first4=Hezi|last5=Bar-Even|first5=Arren|date=December 2016|title=The formate bio-economy|journal=Current Opinion in Chemical Biology|language=en|volume=35|pages=1–9|doi=10.1016/j.cbpa.2016.07.005|pmid=27459678}}</ref> The formate could be used as feed to modified ''[[Escherichia coli|E. coli]]'' bacteria for producing [[biomass]].<ref>{{cite journal |display-authors=etal|last1=Shmuel Gleizer |title=Conversion of ''Escherichia coli'' to Generate All Biomass Carbon from CO<sub>2</sub> |journal=Cell |date=Nov 2019 |doi=10.1016/j.cell.2019.11.009 |volume=179 |issue=6 |pages=1255–1263.e12|pmid=31778652 |doi-access=free |pmc=6904909 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kim|first1=Seohyoung|last2=Lindner|first2=Steffen N.|last3=Aslan|first3=Selçuk|last4=Yishai|first4=Oren|last5=Wenk|first5=Sebastian|last6=Schann|first6=Karin|last7=Bar-Even|first7=Arren|date=2020-02-10|title=Growth of E. coli on formate and methanol via the reductive glycine pathway|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41589-020-0473-5|journal=Nature Chemical Biology|language=en|pages=538–545|doi=10.1038/s41589-020-0473-5|issn=1552-4469|volume=16|issue=5|pmid=32042198|s2cid=211074951}}</ref> Natural [[methylotroph]] microbes can feed on formic acid or formate.

Formic acid has been considered as a means of [[hydrogen storage]].<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1002/cssc.200800133 |pmid=18781551 |title=Breakthroughs in Hydrogen Storage-Formic Acid as a Sustainable Storage Material for Hydrogen |journal=ChemSusChem |volume=1 |issue=10 |pages=805–8 |year=2008 |last1=Joó |first1=Ferenc |bibcode=2008ChSCh...1..805J }}</ref> The co-product of this decomposition, carbon dioxide, can be rehydrogenated back to formic acid in a second step. Formic acid contains 53 g/L hydrogen at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, which is three and a half times as much as compressed hydrogen gas can attain at 350 bar pressure (14.7 g/L). Pure formic acid is a liquid with a [[flash point]] of 69&nbsp;°C, much higher than that of gasoline (−40&nbsp;°C) or ethanol (13&nbsp;°C).{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}

It is possible to use formic acid as an intermediary to produce [[isobutanol]] from {{CO2}} using microbes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://newenergyandfuel.com/http://newenergyandfuel/com/2012/03/30/ucla-researchers-use-electricity-and-co2-to-make-butanol/|title=UCLA Researchers Use Electricity and CO2 to Make Butanol|date=30 March 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=Integrated Electromicrobial Conversion of CO2 to Higher Alcohols|first1=James C.|last1=Liao|first2=Kwang Myung|last2=Cho|first3=Yi-Xin|last3=Huo|first4=Peter|last4=Malati|first5=Wendy|last5=Higashide|first6=Tung-Yun|last6=Wu|first7=Steve|last7=Rogers|first8=David G.|last8=Wernick|first9=Paul H.|last9=Opgenorth|first10=Han|last10=Li|date=30 March 2012|journal=Science|volume=335|issue=6076|pages=1596|doi=10.1126/science.1217643|pmid=22461604|bibcode=2012Sci...335.1596L|s2cid=24328552}}</ref>

===Soldering===
Formic acid has a potential application in [[soldering]]. Due to its capacity to reduce oxide layers, formic acid gas can be blasted at an oxide surface to increase solder [[Soldering#Flux|wettability]].{{cn|date=June 2024}}

===Chromatography===
Formic acid is used as a volatile pH modifier in [[High-performance liquid chromatography|HPLC]] and [[capillary electrophoresis]]. Formic acid is often used as a component of mobile phase in [[Reversed-phase chromatography|reversed-phase]] [[high-performance liquid chromatography]] (RP-HPLC) analysis and separation techniques for the separation of hydrophobic macromolecules, such as peptides, proteins and more complex structures including intact viruses.  Especially when paired with [[mass spectrometry]] detection, formic acid offers several advantages over the more traditionally used [[phosphoric acid]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.novapublishers.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=48192 |title=Archived copy |access-date=7 November 2017 |archive-date=7 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107112257/https://www.novapublishers.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=48192 |url-status=dead }}{{full citation needed|date=November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/S0021-9673(01)88415-6 |pmid=6304128 |title=Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography of virus proteins and other large hydrophobic proteins in formic acid containing solvents |journal=Journal of Chromatography A |volume=252 |pages=241–54 |year=1982 |last1=Heukeshoven |first1=Jochen |last2=Dernick |first2=Rudolf }}</ref>

===Other uses===
Formic acid is also significantly used in the production of leather, including [[Tanning (leather)|tanning]] (23% of the global consumption in 2009<ref name=CEH/>), and in dyeing and finishing textiles (9% of the global consumption in 2009<ref name=CEH/>) because of its acidic nature. Use as a coagulant in the [[production of rubber]]<ref name = Ullmann_2009/> consumed 6% of the global production in 2009.<ref name=CEH/>

Formic acid is also used in place of mineral acids for various cleaning products,<ref name =Ullmann_2009/> such as [[limescale]] remover and [[household cleaner|toilet bowl cleaner]]. Some formate [[esters]] are artificial flavorings and perfumes.

Formic acid application has been reported to be an effective treatment for [[wart]]s.<ref name="pmid11589750">{{cite journal |doi=10.1046/j.1365-4362.2001.01242.x |pmid=11589750 |title=Topical formic acid puncture technique for the treatment of common warts |journal=International Journal of Dermatology |volume=40 |issue=6 |pages=415–9 |year=2001 |last1=Bhat |first1=Ramesh M |last2=Vidya |first2=Krishna |last3=Kamath |first3=Ganesh |s2cid=42351889 }}</ref>