Facile synthesis of metal carbides with high-entropy strategy for engineering electrical properties

High-entropy (HE) materials, including multiple principal elements, have gained growing attraction for their unique structural stability and tunable property. However, high tem-perature is usually required to form a single phase in the preparation of high-entropy compounds, particularly high-entropy ceramics (e.g., carbides and silicides). Here, high -entropy carbide (HEC-700) was successfully fabricated via a simple gel-like method, in which heat treatment was as low as 700 degrees C. It is shown that the HEC-700 demonstrates a single-phased cubic structure with homogenous distribution of each element. As a result of the cooperative effect of multiple components, the as-synthesized HEC-700 proves to have a high electrical conductivity of about 4.5 x 10-5 S cm-1 at 300 K. Furthermore, HEC-700 exhibits significant activity in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) as well as oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), which can be a promising candidate for electrocatalyst. (c) 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

High-entropy materials with multiple principal elements have unique structural stability and tunable properties. In this study, a high-entropy carbide (HEC-700) was successfully fabricated using a simple gel-like method with a low heat treatment temperature of 700 degrees C. HEC-700 exhibited a single-phased cubic structure with homogeneous distribution of each element and a high electrical conductivity of about 4.5 x 10-5 S cm-1. Furthermore, HEC-700 showed significant activity in both the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), making it a promising candidate for electrocatalysis.