Colloidal High Entropy Alloy Nanoparticles: Synthetic Strategies and Electrocatalytic Properties

High entropy alloy (HEA) nanoparticles (NPs) have attracted much attention recently due to their unprecedented chemical properties. As such, HEA NPs have been used as materials with superior activity toward electrocatalytic applications. Specifically, solid solutions that form randomly mixed single-phased structures have received the most focus in the early stages of HEA NP development for their entropic-driven design and multifunctionality. Advances to non-colloidal and colloidal synthetic methods have allowed for the fabrication of solid solution HEA NPs with varying compositions and complexity to be applied to many practical applications such as fuel cells, energy storage and agriculture. In this review, the current colloidal methods and catalytic mechanisms for solid solution HEA NP synthesis are investigated from the physical chemistry perspective. A comprehensive discussion on the theory, techniques, and electrocatalytic applications of colloidal syntheses for successful solid solution HEA NP formation is presented. Finally, promising perspectives for the continued development of physical insights into structure-property relationships towards improved HEA NP synthesis and application are discussed.