Preparation of highly efficient high-entropy alloy catalysts with electrodeposition and corrosion engineering for OER electrocatalysis

Abstract

High entropy alloy (HEA) has recently gained attention as one of the promising materials for catalytic field because of its unique structure and multi-constituent synergy catalytic applications due to its diverse element composition and multi-constituent synergy that offered excellent thermal stability, catalytic activity and corrosion resistance. In the work, we introduce the facile preparation of a self-supporting HEA-FeMnCuCo via one-step electrodeposition method, followed by generating HEA multicomponent hydroxyl oxide via a corrosion engineering approach to acquire an efficient and stable alkaline electrolytic catalyst. The prepared catalyst exhibits a remarkable catalytic performance with the overpotentials of 226 mV at current densities of 10 mA cm−2, and a low Tafel slope of 58.2 mV·dec −1. And the high activity is attributed to the formation of transition metal elements (Ni/Fe/Co) with high oxidation states by a corrosion engineering, which increase the active sites and reduced the initial potential of oxygen evolution reaction. Additionally, the HEA catalyst exhibits an excellent long-term OER stability, lasting over 100 h at 50 mA cm−2.