Assuming we collect Sulfuric acid from Venus clouds using some sort of airship, what would be the best way of turning this into hydrogen and oxygen? I came across something called the Hybrid sulfur cycle which goes like this:
H2SO4(aq) → H2O(g) + SO2(g) + ½ O2(g) (thermochemical, T > 800 °C)
SO2(aq) + 2 H2O(l) → H2SO4(aq) + H2(g) (electrochemical, T = 80-120 °C)
Are there better ways than this? I assume you can also somehow exploit the fact that it is quite hot on Venus to get the temperature required for the reaction. Like go down to a level with say 200 degrees and use a heat-pump to increase the temperature further. I have no idea if that works for high temperatures.
The assumption here is that both hydrogen and oxygen are useful chemical for long term survival. I will assume the electrochemical energy will likely come from solar cells, as Venus has quite a lot of sun. But I was wondering if the process could be made more efficient by utilizing the high temperature already existing on Venus. Planetary surface is probably unlikely as the pressure is too high, so it would be at a higher altitude.