Liquid metal for high-entropy alloy nanoparticles synthesis

High-entropy alloy nanoparticles (HEA-NPs) show great potential as functional materials(1-3). However, thus far, the realized high-entropy alloys have been restricted to palettes of similar elements, which greatly hinders the material design, property optimization and mechanistic exploration for different applications(4,5). Herein, we discovered that liquid metal endowing negative mixing enthalpy with other elements could provide a stable thermodynamic condition and act as a desirable dynamic mixing reservoir, thus realizing the synthesis of HEA-NPs with a diverse range of metal elements in mild reaction conditions. The involved elements have a wide range of atomic radii (1.24-1.97 angstrom) and melting points (303-3,683 K). We also realized the precisely fabricated structures of nanoparticles via mixing enthalpy tuning. Moreover, the real-time conversion process (that is, from liquid metal to crystalline HEA-NPs) is captured in situ, which confirmed a dynamic fission-fusion behaviour during the alloying process.

Automated summary

High-entropy alloy nanoparticles (HEA-NPs) with different metal elements were synthesized using liquid metal with negative mixing enthalpy as a dynamic mixing reservoir, enabling the exploration and optimization of their properties for various applications. The versatile elements used have a wide range of atomic radii and melting points. The real-time conversion process from liquid metal to crystalline HEA-NPs was captured in situ, confirming a dynamic fission-fusion behavior during alloying.