A general approach to high-entropy metallic nanowire electrocatalysts

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) hold great promise for efficient catalyst discovery in a virtually unlimited compositional space. The control-lable incorporation of multiple metal elements into low-dimensional nanomaterials with tailored structure merits untold scientific and applicable potential; however, it remains a great challenge using previous high-temperature synthetic techniques. Hence, we report a general reduction-diffusion method for constructing a library of atomic-thick Pt-based HEA nanowires (NWs) with up to ten compo-nents. We have identified that the initial formation of Pt NWs and the nucleation rate of other transition metals are the key points in forming a uniform HEA single-phase solid solution. Our method can be used to synthesize 26 kinds of multimetallic NWs, including 17 HEAs. The high-entropy design can introduce severe lattice distortion in NWs, thereby altering the strain distribution and elec-tronic structure, which enables the HEA NWs with specific compo-nents to exhibit outstanding catalytic performance in hydrogen oxidation reaction and hydrogen evolution reaction.

Automated summary

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) have great potential for efficient catalyst discovery. We report a method for constructing atomic-thick Pt-based HEA nanowires (NWs) with multiple components. The key points in forming a uniform HEA single-phase solid solution are the initial formation of Pt NWs and the nucleation rate of other transition metals. Our method can synthesize 26 kinds of multimetallic NWs, including 17 HEAs. The high-entropy design introduces lattice distortion, altering the strain distribution and electronic structure, enabling the HEA NWs to exhibit outstanding catalytic performance in hydrogen oxidation and evolution reactions.