Catalysts for Coal‐Assisted Water Electrolysis: From Synthesis to Electrochemical Performance

ABSTRACT Water electrolysis presents a promising route for clean hydrogen production, yet its practical deployment is hindered by the high overpotential of the sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Coal‐assisted water electrolysis (CAWE) offers an alternative pathway by replacing OER with the more thermodynamically favorable coal oxidation reaction (COR), enabling lower cell voltage and improved energy efficiency. However, the pathways of COR are complicated, and its kinetics are strongly dependent on the anode catalysts. This review provides the first systematic and anode‐centered analysis of catalyst design and classification in CAWE, including noble metal‐based anodes, non‐noble metal‐based anodes, and carbon‐based self‐sacrificial anodes (SSA), focusing on their design, synthesis strategies, and structure–activity relationships. These catalytic strategies have demonstrated reductions in energy consumption and increase in current density and hydrogen production rate. Remaining challenges include limited mechanism understanding of COR, insufficient control over catalyst architecture, and mass‐transfer limitations between coal particles and electrode surfaces. Future advances in in situ characterization, atomic‐scale catalyst engineering, and reactor optimization are expected to drive CAWE toward practical, low‐carbon hydrogen production.