Experimental study platform for electrocatalysis of atomic-level controlled high-entropy alloy surfaces

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) have attracted considerable attention to improve performance of various electrocatalyst materials. A comprehensive understanding of the relationship between surface atomic-level structures and catalytic properties is essential to boost the development of novel catalysts. In this study, we propose an experimental study platform that enables the vacuum synthesis of atomic-level-controlled single-crystal high-entropy alloy surfaces and evaluates their catalytic properties. The platform provides essential information that is crucial for the microstructural fundamentals of electrocatalysis, i.e., the detailed relationship between multi-component alloy surface microstructures and their catalytic properties. Nanometre-thick epitaxially stacking layers of Pt and equi-atomic-ratio Cr-Mn-Fe-Co-Ni, the so-called Cantor alloy, were synthesised on low-index single-crystal Pt substrates (Pt/Cr-Mn-Fe-Co-Ni/Pt(hkl)) as a Pt-based single-crystal alloy surface model for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysis. The usefulness of the platform was demonstrated by showing the outperforming oxygen reduction reaction properties of high-entropy alloy surfaces when compared to Pt-Co binary surfaces.