Enhanced Hydrogen Production via Water Electrolysis Using Fe‐Loaded Biomass‐Derived Self‐Supporting Sacrificial Anode

Sacrificial anode for hydrogen production technology based on biomass‐derived carbon establishes a novel strategic approach for clean hydrogen energy generation and biochar resource utilization. By synergistically regulating the oxidation effect of anode carbon and the proton‐coupled electron transfer pathway, continuous hydrogen precipitation under low overpotential is realized, breaking through the technological bottleneck of traditional hydrogen production from electrolytic water, which is limited by the high overpotential and the dependence on precious metals. In this study, biomass‐based self‐supporting sacrificial anode systems (BC, O‐BC, and Fe@O‐BC) were successfully constructed by carbonization‐oxidation‐iron loading tertiary preparation process. Electrochemical tests demonstrated that the anode potential of the Fe@O‐BC electrode was only 1.19 V (vs. RHE) at a current density of 10 mA cm −2 in the 1 M KOH electrolyte, which was 38.9% lower than that of the commercial Pt electrode (1.95 V), and the energy consumption of hydrogen production per unit was 32.28% lower than that of the commercial Pt electrode. The characterization (XRD, SEM–TEM, FTIR, and XPS) reveals the structural evolution of the material: the acid‐washing pyrolysis treatment induces the material to form a hierarchical porous structure to promote the mass‐transfer process, and the synergistic optimization of the interfacial charge distribution by the surface defects and oxygen‐containing groups, and the loading of iron to form the redox conversion between Fe 3+ /Fe 2+ to promote the material's surface charge transfer and to increase the charge storage capacity, the three synergistic effects effectively reduce the COR reaction energy barrier. This work not only provides a new way for the high value utilization of biomass resources, but also lays a theoretical foundation for the development of new carbon‐based assisted electrolytic water hydrogen production technology, which is an important reference value for the promotion of the large‐scale production of green hydrogen.