Premium
A Self‐Supported High‐Entropy Metallic Glass with a Nanosponge Architecture for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution under Alkaline and Acidic Conditions
Author(s) -
Jia Zhe,
Nomoto Keita,
Wang Qing,
Kong Charlie,
Sun Ligang,
Zhang LaiChang,
Liang ShunXing,
Lu Jian,
Kruzic Jamie J.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.202101586
Subject(s) - materials science , alloy , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , nanocrystal , adsorption , hydrogen storage , desorption , electrochemistry , chemistry , metallurgy , electrode , engineering
Developing highly efficient and durable electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) under both alkaline and acidic media is crucial for the future development of a hydrogen economy. However, state‐of‐the‐art high‐performance electrocatalysts recently developed are based on carbon carriers mediated by binding noble elements and their complicated processing methods are a major impediment to commercialization. Here, inspired by the high‐entropy alloy concept with its inherent multinary nature and using a glassy alloy design with its chemical homogeneity and tunability, we present a scalable strategy to alloy five equiatomic elements, PdPtCuNiP, into a high‐entropy metallic glass (HEMG) for HER in both alkaline and acidic conditions. Surface dealloying of the HEMG creates a nanosponge‐like architecture with nanopores and embedded nanocrystals that provides abundant active sites to achieve outstanding HER activity. The obtained overpotentials at a current density of 10 mA cm −2 are 32 and 62 mV in 1.0 m KOH and 0.5 m H 2 SO 4 solutions, respectively, outperforming most currently available electrocatalysts. Density functional theory reveals that a lattice distortion and the chemical complexity of the nanocrystals lead to a strong synergistic effect on the electronic structure that further stabilizes hydrogen proton adsorption/desorption. This HEMG strategy establishes a new paradigm for designing compositionally complex alloys for electrochemical reactions.