TY - JOUR
T1 - Modulation of elemental synergy in medium/high entropy alloys for boosting water splitting
AU - Zhang, Xueqiang
AU - Pang, Zhongya
AU - Yu, Xing
AU - Xia, Xuewen
AU - Tian, Feng
AU - Liu, Dan
AU - Wang, Shujuan
AU - Li, Guangshi
AU - Hu, Shen
AU - Hsu, Hsien-Yi
AU - Ji, Li
AU - Xu, Qian
AU - Lu, Xionggang
AU - Zou, Xingli
PY - 2025/9/27
Y1 - 2025/9/27
N2 - Designing robust medium/high entropy alloys (M/HEAs) with positive elemental synergy serves as a promising strategy for developing efficient water splitting electrocatalysts. However, traditional component selection based on volcano diagrams limits elemental diversity. Here, we used the molten salt electrochemical method to incorporate catalytically inactive Mg, located outside the volcano diagrams, into M/HEAs, demonstrating prominent electronic regulation and synergistic effects across fourteen non-noble M/HEAs. Mg addition enhances the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance of nearly all M/HEAs and improves the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance of specific M/HEAs. For example, in CoNiMg and CoNiMgFe0.1, strong interactions between Mg and metals such as Co and/or Fe facilitate electron transfer, altering the electronic structure and forming synergistic effects. Mg addition reduces the HER overpotential of CoNi from 218 mV to 49 mV and the OER overpotential of CoNiFe0.1 from 327 mV to 242 mV at 10 mA cm−2. The CoNiMg || CoNiMgFe0.1 cell exhibits a low voltage of 1.54 V at 10 mA cm−2 and excellent stability for over 1200 h in 1 M KOH seawater. This work offers a practical strategy for synthesizing diverse M/HEAs through molten salt electrochemistry, promoting the incorporation of elements outside the volcano diagram to modulate elemental synergy and enhance catalytic performance. © 2025 The Authors.
AB - Designing robust medium/high entropy alloys (M/HEAs) with positive elemental synergy serves as a promising strategy for developing efficient water splitting electrocatalysts. However, traditional component selection based on volcano diagrams limits elemental diversity. Here, we used the molten salt electrochemical method to incorporate catalytically inactive Mg, located outside the volcano diagrams, into M/HEAs, demonstrating prominent electronic regulation and synergistic effects across fourteen non-noble M/HEAs. Mg addition enhances the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance of nearly all M/HEAs and improves the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance of specific M/HEAs. For example, in CoNiMg and CoNiMgFe0.1, strong interactions between Mg and metals such as Co and/or Fe facilitate electron transfer, altering the electronic structure and forming synergistic effects. Mg addition reduces the HER overpotential of CoNi from 218 mV to 49 mV and the OER overpotential of CoNiFe0.1 from 327 mV to 242 mV at 10 mA cm−2. The CoNiMg || CoNiMgFe0.1 cell exhibits a low voltage of 1.54 V at 10 mA cm−2 and excellent stability for over 1200 h in 1 M KOH seawater. This work offers a practical strategy for synthesizing diverse M/HEAs through molten salt electrochemistry, promoting the incorporation of elements outside the volcano diagram to modulate elemental synergy and enhance catalytic performance. © 2025 The Authors.
KW - Electronic regulation
KW - Magnesium-containing catalysts
KW - Molten salt electrochemistry
KW - Non-noble medium/high entropy alloys
KW - Water/seawater splitting
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105018956216
UR - https://www.scopus.com/record/pubmetrics.uri?eid=2-s2.0-105018956216&origin=recordpage
U2 - 10.1016/j.fmre.2025.09.017
DO - 10.1016/j.fmre.2025.09.017
M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal
SN - 2096-9457
JO - Fundamental Research
JF - Fundamental Research
ER -
SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy