耦合可再生电能的电解水制氢是一项极具前景的绿氢技术，该技术仍受限于阳极析氧反应（OER）动力学慢、过电位高等问题的限制。在阳极端采用热力学更容易的电氧化反应代替OER，可大幅降低电耗并且在阳极端获得增值产物，是电解制氢的一种新策略。甘油作为生物柴油生产的主要副产品且产能过剩，其电催化氧化（GOR）理论电位比OER低。基于此，本研究工作报道了一种耦合酸性析氢反应（HER）与碱性GOR的混合酸/碱双电解液的制氢电解器，其以泡沫镍（NF）支撑Co₃O₄纳米片（NS）电极（Co₃O₄·NSs/NF）为阳极，商用碳载铂修饰碳布电极为阴极。在阳极端，Co₃O₄·NSs/NF对GOR电催化表现出较低的过电位和转化为甲酸盐的高选择性。在该混合酸/碱双电解液电解槽中，仅仅需要额外施加0.55 V的外加电压，即可达到10 mA·cm^-2的产氢电解电流密度，并可以在阳极将甘油高选择性地转化为甲酸盐，其中产氢的法拉第效率接近100%。本研究工作为电解制氢提供了一条节电、阳极增值转化的技术路线。

Electrolytic hydrogen production is heavily restricted by high-energy consumption majorly due to the relatively high potential of anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Development of OER-alternative reaction at the anode has been recently proposed as a promising pathway to address the associated issues. In this work, we report a hybrid acid/alkali dual-electrolyte electrolyzer by coupling acidic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) using commercial Pt/C cathode with alkaline electrocatalytic glycerol oxidation (GOR) which is implemented by developing a nickel foam (NF) supporting Co₃O₄ nanosheets anode that shows low overpotential and high selectivity toward GOR for formate production. The hybrid acid/alkali electrolyzer only requires an applied voltage of 0.55 V to achieve the electrolytic current density of 10 mA·cm^-2 for glycerol conversion into formate at the anode and H₂ production at the cathode with the Faraday efficiency of about 100%. The present work may open a new avenue to maximize the electron utilization efficiency and implement the energy-saving green route for H₂ generation.