Design of high-entropy antiperovskite metal nitrides as highly efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction

Rational design of effective, stable and low-cost oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts is vital for the overall efficiency of water splitting. As a novelty branch of transition metal nitrides, antiperovskite nitrides have been considered as potential alternative OER electrocatalysts due to their high flexibility in elemental composition and excellent conductivity. Particularly, high-entropy antiperovskite nitride materials with multiple elements occupying the equivalent lattice sites are considered as potentially effective application in field of catalysis. Here, we first report the OER results about Ni-based high-entropy antiperovskite nitrides. The Cu0.5Fe0.5NNi2Co0.5Fe0.5 as the high-entropy antiperovskite nitride is designed for an OER catalyst with promising electrocatalytical OER performance in alkaline medium (low overpotential 370 mV at 10 mA cm−2, low overpotential 627 mV at high current density of 400 mA cm−2 (almost the same overpotential with commercial RuO2), small Tafel slope 55 mV dec−1 and long-term stability). The results provide a novel OER catalyst based on high-entropy antiperovskite metal nitrides and will push forward the strategic guidelines for design of highly efficient catalysts.