The aim of this study is to quantify the hydrogen production rate in an anion exchange membrane (AEM) lignin electrolysis cell. Two non-precious and nanostructured metal and metal oxide electrocatalysts were developed and used as the anodic catalysts in a lignin electrolysis process. H 2 production rates, energy consumption rates and faradaic efficiency were measured using β-PbO 2 /MWNTs and Ni-Co/TiO 2 electrocatalysts as the anode, where electrochemical depolymerization of lignin occurs. Our results were then compared with recent efforts for lignin electrolysis in the literature. This work demonstrates that the β-PbO 2 /MWNTs nanocomposite is the more stable and active electrocatalyst in this process. At the end, our results showed that using β-PbO 2 /MWNTs as the anodic electrocatalyst can enhance lignin oxidation rates, with a corresponding increase in the rate of H 2 production at the cathode. As a result, this can lead to high hydrogen evolution rates (∼45.6 mL/h), and increase energy efficiency by 20%, compared to a commercial alkaline water electrolyzer.

In this paper, we report on our recent efforts to develop a biomass-depolarized electrolyzer for efficient production of H 2 . Electrochemical oxidation of lignin-rich biorefinery waste streams can occur at lower overpotentials than those required for O 2 evolution, which leads to potentially lower-voltage electrolyzer operation that could lower the energy requirements for electrolytic production of H 2 . In addition, the anode product stream may possess economic value greater than that of O 2 , which could provide an additional revenue stream for electrolytic production of H 2 .

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