Carbon-assisted water electrolysis (CAEW), leveraging the carbon oxidation reaction (COR) in place of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), substantially reduces the energy demand for H2 production. However, CO2 is the primary anode product in conventional CAEW, limiting its practical value. Additionally, mass transfer constraints significantly impact the efficiency of COR in substituting for OER in traditional CAEW systems. This study proposes an advanced CAEW process for syngas production, utilizing Aspen Plus simulations to generate H2 at the cathode and CO at the anode. A self-supporting corncob biomass char sacrificial anode was synthesized via hydrothermal-molding-pyrolysis. Simulation outcomes demonstrate that energy consumption for syngas production decreases as the H2/CO ratio increases within the 1 to 5 range, reaching minimum values of 1.14 kWh/m3-H2 and 1.45 kWh/m3-syngas theoretically at an H2/CO ratio of 3. Electrochemical testing reveals that the corncob biomass char anode operates at a potential approximately 1/3 lower than that of a Pt anode while maintaining cathodic H2 production efficiency. The corncob sacrificial anode produces reduced gas and O2, confirming the replacement of OER by COR. Additionally, the anode gas contains around 10 % CO, validating CAEW’s feasibility for syngas production.

中文翻译：

---

自支撑玉米芯牺牲阳极辅助电解水制合成气/氢气：Aspen Plus 模拟和实验研究


碳辅助水电解 （CAEW） 利用碳氧化反应 （COR） 代替析氧反应 （OER），大大降低了 H2 生产的能源需求。然而，CO2 是传统 CAEW 中的主要负极产品，限制了其实用价值。此外，传质约束会显著影响 COR 在传统 CAEW 系统中替代 OER 的效率。本研究提出了一种先进的 CAEW 合成气生产工艺，利用 Aspen Plus 模拟在阴极产生 H2，在阳极产生 CO。通过水热成型-热解合成了自支撑玉米芯生物质焦牺牲阳极。模拟结果表明，合成气生产能耗随着 H2/CO 比在 1 到 5 范围内的增加而降低，在 H2/CO 比为 3 时达到理论上 1.14 kWh/m3-H2 和 1.45 kWh/m3-syngas 的最小值。电化学测试表明，玉米芯生物质焦阳极的运行电位比 Pt 阳极低约 1/3，同时保持阴极 H2 生产效率。玉米芯牺牲阳极产生还原气体和 O2，证实了 COR 取代了 OER。此外，阳极气体含有约 10% 的 CO，验证了 CAEW 生产合成气的可行性。