High entropy alloy nanoparticles as efficient catalysts for alkaline overall seawater splitting and Zn-air batteries

High entropy alloys (HEAs) are those metallic materials that consist of five or more elements. Compared with conventional alloys, they have much more catalytic active sites due to unique structural characteristics such as high entropy effect and lattice distortion, endowing them with promising applications in the region of hydrolysis catalysts. Herein, we successfully loaded high-entropy alloys onto carbon nanotubes (FeNiCoMnRu@CNT) by hydrothermal means. It exhibits excellent HER and OER properties in alkaline seawater. To accomplish two-electrode total water splitting when constructed into Zn air cells, it only needed 1.6 V, and the timing voltage curve showed a steady current density of 10 mA cm(-2) during constant electrolysis for more than 30 h in alkaline seawater. The remarkably high HER and OER activity of FeNiCoMnRu@CNT HEAs NPS indicates the potentially broad application prospect of HEAs for Zn air battery.

Automated summary

High entropy alloys (HEAs), consisting of five or more elements, have unique structural characteristics that endow them with promising applications in hydrolysis catalysts. In this study, FeNiCoMnRu@CNT HEAs were successfully loaded onto carbon nanotubes using hydrothermal means. The HEAs exhibited excellent HER and OER properties in alkaline seawater, and showed a steady current density of 10 mA cm(-2) during constant electrolysis for over 30 hours. These findings suggest the potentially broad application prospect of HEAs for Zn air battery.