Water-Based Synthesis of Supported Ultrasmall High-Entropy Alloy Nanoparticles.

Nielsen, Tobias Mølgaard; Schlegel, Nicolas; Sanz Arjona, Adrián; Klemmt, Rebekka; Rohde, Rasmus; Vosch, Tom; Bøjesen, Espen Drath; Jensen, Kirsten M Ø · Nano Lett · 2025

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) are emerging as a class of materials with immense potential in electrocatalysis. While several synthesis methods have been reported, simple and environmentally benign synthesis of HEA nanoparticles is lacking. In this work, we report a methodology for the synthesis of ultrasmall (1-3 nm) IrPdPtRuRh HEA nanoparticles through a hot-injection approach in water, using l-ascorbic acid as reducing agent. The nanoparticles are formed directly on a carbon support and exhibit a mean crystallite size of just 1.2 ± 0.7 nm. All five elements are well-dispersed throughout the particles, with no elemental separation. The supported particles outperformed a Pt/C benchmark in the alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction, requiring 30 mV less overpotential to achieve 10 mA cm<sup>-2</sup><sub>ECSA</sub>. Reaction kinetics experiments reveal a large increase of the metal reduction rates in the presence of the carbon support, highlighting the synergistic effect of the support material and the reducing agent.