High-entropy alloy CuCrFeNiCoP film of Cu-based as high-efficiency electrocatalyst for water splitting

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) have gained extensive attention owing to tunable multi-element composition and unique high-entropy hybrid structure, which can form new, adjustable active sites in adjacent multiple elements. Herein, a high-entropy alloy thin-film electrocatalyst composed of dendrites, CuCrFeNiCoP HEA is designed, which presents a face-centered cubic structure. Particularly, the introduction of phosphorus does not change the alloying properties of the material, the CuCrFeNiCoP HEA electrocatalyst exhibits the characteristics of high-entropy alloy and phosphorus acts as a proton acceptor to improve the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance. Furthermore, the CuCrFeNiCoP HEA demonstrates remarkable catalytic activity for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) attributed to the synergistic effect between its constituent metal elements. Based on CuP alloys with poor catalytic activity, CuCrFeNiCoP HEA catalysts formed by sequentially introducing Cr, Fe, Ni and Co elements demonstrated remarkable performance in both HER and OER. At the same time, the CuCrFeNiCoP HEA dendrites exhibit exceptional electrochemical stability at a high current density of 100 mA cm−2, ensuring their long-term applicability for energy conversion and storage. This method presented in the study paves the way for synthesizing HEAs on a large scale, enabling their practical commercialization for energy-related applications.