Development of the high-performance noble-metal-free electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution based on the novel multinary intermetallic
Electrochemical water splitting offers an attractive approach for hydrogen production. However, the lack of high-performance costeffective electrocatalyst severely hinders its applications. In our work, a multinary high-entropy intermetallic (HEI) that possesses an unusual periodically ordered structure containing multiple nonnoble elements is developed, which can serve as a highly efficient electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution. This HEI exhibits excellent activities in alkalinity with an overpotential of 88.2 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 and a Tafel slope of 40.1 mV dec−1, which are comparable to those of noble catalysts. Theoretical calculations reveal that the chemical complexity and surprising atomic configurations provide a strong synergistic function to alter the electronic structure. Furthermore, the unique L12-type ordered structure enables a specific site-isolation effect to further stabilize the H2O/H* adsorption/desorption, which dramatically optimizes the energy barrier of hydrogen evolution. Such an HEI strategy uncovers a new paradigm to develop novel electrocatalyst with superior reaction activities.
Reference
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