High‐entropy alloy stabilized and activated Pt clusters for highly efficient electrocatalysis

Abstract

Although Pt and other noble metals are the state‐of‐the‐art catalysts for various energy conversion applications, their low reserve, high cost, and instability limit their large‐scale utilization. Herein, we report a hybrid catalysts design featuring noble metal clusters (e.g., Pt) uniformly dispersed and stabilized on high‐entropy alloy nanoparticles (HEA, e.g., FeCoNiCu), denoted as HEA@Pt, which is prepared via ultra‐fast shock synthesis (∼300 ms) for HEA alloying combined with Pt galvanic replacement for surface anchoring. In our design, the HEA core critically ensures high dispersity, stability, and tunability of the surface Pt clusters through high entropy stabilization and core‐shell interactions. As an example in the hydrogen evolution reaction, HEA@Pt achieved a significant mass activity of 235 A/gPt, which is 9.4, 3.6, and 1.9‐times higher compared to that of homogeneous FeCoNiCuPt (HEA‐Pt), Pt, and commercial Pt/C, respectively. We also demonstrated noble Ir stabilized on FeCoNiCrMn nanoparticles (HEA‐5@Ir), achieving excellent anodic oxygen evolution performance and highly efficient overall water splitting when combined with the cathodic HEA@Pt. Therefore, our work developed a general catalysts design strategies by using high entropy nanoparticles for effective dispersion, stabilization, and modulation of surface active sites, achieving a harmonious combination of high activity, stability, and low cost.

Entropy-Driven Stabilization of Multielement Halide Double-Perovskite Alloys

“…High-entropy alloying has proven to be an efficient method to improve material stability, − exploiting the large configurational entropy of multielement alloys to overcome the mixing-enthalpy barrier and thus promoting thermodynamic stability of materials at finite temperature . In addition to entropy-driven thermodynamic stability, intrinsic properties such as severe lattice distortion and strong chemical short-range order enable high-entropy alloys to exhibit compelling functional properties, including thermoelectric effects, piezoelectricity, photovoltaic conversion, shape memory, etc. − The investigation of high-entropy alloys initially focused on metals, and they are defined as mixtures of five or more elements.…”

High‐entropy alloy catalysts: From bulk to nano toward highly efficient carbon and nitrogen catalysis

“…In the meantime, heterogeneous catalysts construction and morphological control are also paramount to further adjusting their catalytic performances. 108,109,[117][118][119][120] For example, Shi et al 107 reported the non-NM HEA as a substrate to disperse, stabilize, and tune NM Pt (active sites) toward significantly improved activity, stability, and low cost. In their design, the surface Pt nanoclusters are anchored on the non-noble HEA core, which ensures high dispersity, stability, and tunability of the surface active sites through high-entropy stabilization and core-shell interactions (Figure 5C).…”

“…(C) Schematic diagram of a heterogeneous design of HEA catalysts by FeCoNiCu@Pt nanoparticle. Reproduced with permission: Copyright 2022, Wiley 107 . (D) Elemental mappings of PtPdIrRuRh‐TiO 2 , showing the combination of HEA with other nanostructures (Scale bar = 10 nm).…”

Emerging Graphene Derivatives and Analogues for Efficient Energy Electrocatalysis

“…[ 240–242 ] The tunable multi‐component active sites on the surface of high‐entropy materials offer huge opportunity to regulate the adsorption energy of reaction intermediates and ultimately the electrocatalytic activity. [ 243,244 ] Recently, the strategy of designing HE materials was also introduced in the research of metal‐based graphene analogues to improve the electrocatalytic activity. [ 245–251 ] Gu et al.…”