Waste oxidation as a pathway to energy-efficient electrochemical processes

Abstract

The large-scale availability of low-carbon hydrogen is critical for achieving the net zero 2050 goal, yet researchers are questioning whether the planned expansion of the renewable energy network will be sufficient to meet this demand. In the pursuit of alternative pathways to yield hydrogen, anodic oxidation reactions (AORs) are attracting much attention from the catalysis community. However, these systems are mostly studied on a small scale, and insights into their commercial application are missing. To bridge this gap, we postulate that AOR catalysts should be further developed and tested under conditions closer to real-life applications. We defined these applications from a system-level perspective and provided a practical framework to translate complex environments into conditions that can be tested under academic wet lab limitations. The proposed framework also supports the collaboration toward developing partnering technologies (e.g., separations) needed for a large-scale hydrogen supply from AORs.