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High-entropy catalysts for electrochemical water-electrolysis of hydrogen evolution and oxygen evolution reactions

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Abstract

High entropy materials (HEMs) have developed rapidly in the field of electrocatalytic water-electrolysis for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) due to their unique properties. In particular, HEM catalysts are composed of many elements. Therefore, they have rich active sites and enhanced entropy stability relative to single atoms. In this paper, the preparation strategies and applications of HEM catalysts in electrochemical water-electrolysis are reviewed to explore the stabilization of HEMs and their catalytic mechanisms as well as their application in support green hydrogen production. First, the concept and four characteristics of HEMs are introduced based on entropy and composition. Then, synthetic strategies of HEM catalysts are systematically reviewed in terms of the categories of bottom-up and top-down. The application of HEMs as catalysts for electrochemical water-electrolysis in recent years is emphatically discussed, and the mechanisms of improving the performance of electrocatalysis is expounded by combining theoretical calculation technology and ex-situ/in situ characterization experiments. Finally, the application prospect of HEMs is proposed to conquer the challenges in HEM catalyst fabrications and applications.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51572166), the Program for Eastern Scholar (Grant No. TP2014041), and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2021M702073).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, China

    Simiao Sha, Riyue Ge, Ying Li, Bin Liu & Wenxian Li

  2. School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu, 241000, China

    Riyue Ge

  3. Australian Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis; School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Julie M. Cairney

  4. School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Rongkun Zheng

  5. School of Materials Science and Engineering; UNSW Materials & Manufacturing Futures Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Sean Li & Wenxian Li

  6. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350108, China

    Jiujun Zhang

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  1. Simiao Sha
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Correspondence to Wenxian Li.

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Competing interests Jiujun Zhang is a duputy editor-in-chief of Frontiers in Energy, who was excluded from the peer-review process and all editorial decisions related to the acceptance and publication of this article. Peer-review was handled independently by the other editors to minimise bias.

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Sha, S., Ge, R., Li, Y. et al. High-entropy catalysts for electrochemical water-electrolysis of hydrogen evolution and oxygen evolution reactions. Front. Energy 18, 265–290 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-023-0892-6

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