Journal of Inorganic Materials, Volume. 39, Issue 11, 1265(2024)
In the process of electrolyzing water to produce hydrogen, the sluggish electrocatalytic kinetics of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) limit the energy conversion efficiency. High-entropy materials have been considered as potential catalysts due to their unique structural features and excellent performance, which could potentially replace traditional metal oxides and precious metals for energy conversion and water electrolysis. Due to the incompatibility between different metals and non-metals, there have been few reports on the synthesis of high-entropy compounds, especially high-entropy metal phosphides. In this study, a series of carbon-based high-entropy alloy phosphide nanoparticles were synthesized using citric acid as complexing agent and ammonium dihydrogen phosphate as phosphorus source via a low-temperature Sol-Gel method with different elemental metals. In 1 mol·L-1 KOH solution, FeCoNiMoCeP/C exhibited good water electrolysis performance at a current density of 10 mA·cm-2, with overpotentials of 119 and 240 mV for the HER and OER, respectively. Similarly, in overall water splitting studies, FeCoNiMoCeP/C also showed excellent catalytic activity. When operating at a current density of 10 mA·cm-2, FeCoNiMoCeP/C required only 1.53 V as the combined anode and cathode voltage for electrolyzing water. This is due to the synergistic effects among the atoms of high-entropy phosphide catalysts which provide more reaction sites to increase reaction activity and selectivity. This study is expected to expand the potential applications of high-entropy alloys in the field of electrocatalysis.
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Wenyu ZHANG, Ruihua GUO, Quanxin YUE, Yarong HUANG, Guofang ZHANG, Lili GUAN.
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Received: Feb. 21, 2024
Accepted: --
Published Online: Jan. 21, 2025
The Author Email: Ruihua GUO (grh7810@163.com)