Nanomaterialen met hoge entropie voor elektrokatalytische stikstofcycli

Electrocatalytic nitrogen cycling, such as the nitrogen oxidation reaction (NOR) and the nitrate reduction to ammonia (NRA), offers an attractive low-energy route for transforming inert atmospheric N2 or nitrate pollutants into valuable products such as nitrates or ammonia. These reactions hold significant promise for sustainable ammonia synthesis and nitrate remediation but are hindered by sluggish kinetics, competing side reactions, and stability challenges under operating conditions. Addressing these issues requires electrocatalysts that combine high activity, selectivity, and durability while operating under complex, multistep reaction pathways. Since the advent of high-entropy alloys (HEAs) in 2004, high-entropy materials (HEMs), particularly in nanoscale form, have emerged as a promising electrocatalyst platform due to their unique physicochemical properties. Their tunable electronic structure, lattice distortion, excellent stability, and multi-element synergy offer unique opportunities for tailoring adsorption energies, stabilizing key intermediates, and suppressing competing reactions, thereby addressing the kinetic and selectivity bottlenecks in nitrogen-based electrochemical transformations. However, their application in NOR and NRA remains in its infancy, with only a few reported studies, leaving substantial room for exploration in both fundamental understanding and practical performance optimization.