Nanoporous Al-Ni-Co-Ir-Mo High-Entropy Alloy for Record-High Water Splitting Activity in Acidic Environments

Ir-based binary and ternary alloys are effective catalysts for the electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in acidic solutions. Nevertheless, decreasing the Ir content to less than 50 at% while maintaining or even enhancing the overall electrocatalytic activity and durability remains a grand challenge. Herein, by dealloying predesigned Al-based precursor alloys, it is possible to controllably incorporate Ir with another four metal elements into one single nanostructured phase with merely ≈20 at% Ir. The obtained nanoporous quinary alloys, i.e., nanoporous high-entropy alloys (np-HEAs) provide infinite possibilities for tuning alloy's electronic properties and maximizing catalytic activities owing to the endless element combinations. Particularly, a record-high OER activity is found for a quinary AlNiCoIrMo np-HEA. Forming HEAs also greatly enhances the structural and catalytic durability regardless of the alloy compositions. With the advantages of low Ir loading and high activity, these np-HEA catalysts are very promising and suitable for activity tailoring/maximization.