High-Entropy Alloys for Electrocatalytic Water Oxidation: Recent Advances on Mechanism and Design

Hydrogen energy has been regarded as a promising alternative to fossil fuels due to its high energy density and zero-pollution combustion nature. Compared to other hydrogen generation technologies, water electrolysis provides a promising route for high-purity hydrogen production. Therefore, the development of efficient electrocatalysts is of great significance. Particularly, high-entropy engineering strategies supply a novel multi-principal element catalyst platform due to their unique structural and electronic properties. This work systematically summarizes recent advancements on high-entropy alloys (HEAs) catalysts on electrocatalytic water oxidation. Especially, it focuses on elucidating two competing fundamental mechanisms: the adsorbate evolution mechanism (AEM) and the lattice oxygen-mediated mechanism (LOM), via high-entropy engineering, which can efficiently modulate electronic configurations and adsorption/desorption behavior. This work aims to supply a theoretical foundation and rational design principles for developing next-generation OER catalysts with high activity and stability.