Abstract: Carbon-assisted water electrolysis （CAWE） introduces a carbon source at the anode, utilizing the carbon oxidation reaction （COR） to replace the oxygen evolution reaction （OER）, can significantly reduce the reaction overpotential and represents an efficient hydrogen production strategy with both economic and sustainable advantages. Developing a highly active, low-cost, and stable electrocatalytic system has become the key to enhancing the performance of CAWE. A Ni−Co nanosheet-structure catalyst is fabricated on a nickel foam （NF） substrate using an electrodeposition combined with cyclic voltammetry （CV） activation strategy, and is applied to a humic acid （HA）-assisted water electrolysis system to achieve efficient and low-energy hydrogen production. When 0.35 g HA is added to 1 mol/L KOH, the Ni–Co/NF electrode requires an overpotential of only 254.4 mV to deliver a current density of 10 mA/cm², achieving a hydrogen production rate of 28.22 mL/（h·cm²） with an energy consumption as low as 3.82 kWh/Nm³. Mechanistic investigations demonstrate that Ni−Co/NF catalyzes the reversible conversion of Ni²⁺/Ni³⁺ and Co²⁺/Co³⁺ under alkaline conditions, continuously generating highly active free radicals （·OH, ·\mathrmO_2^- ） that selectively cleave and oxidize HA molecules, thereby achieving synergistic promotion of carbon oxidation and hydrogen evolution reactions.In conclusion, the Ni−Co/NF catalyst exhibits excellent catalytic activity and stability, providing new insights and a theoretical basis for the construction of low-energy hydrogen production systems and the electrochemical conversion of humic acid.