Sulfur‐Modified Amorphous Noble‐Metal‐Free High‐Entropy Alloy Ultra‐Thin Nanosheets for Low‐Overpotential and Long‐Lifespan Li‐O <sub>2</sub> Batteries
While noble-metal-free high-entropy alloys (NHEA) represent promising low-cost catalysts for Li-O<sub>2</sub> batteries, their catalytic capability is limited by the low metal-site utilization and unfavorable electronic structure inherent in conventional configurations. Herein, we report a novel design for a CuFeCoNiMn-NHEA catalyst, characterized by its entirely amorphous structure and the Metal─S bonds (especially Ni─S) introduced by S-doping. The successful synthesis of this catalyst relies on a rapid low-temperature strategy, where the 5°C reaction temperature limits atomic diffusion and long-range ordering, while the sub-1-min duration kinetically traps the atoms in a disordered state. Within this architecture, the ultra-thin 2D morphology, disordered atomic arrangement, and unsaturated atomic coordination offer abundant active sites by eliminating constraints from crystal planes and boundaries; simultaneously, the Metal─S bonds significantly optimize the electronic structure. The electronegativity gradient between metal and S induces electron delocalization at metal sites, which lowers the d-band center and optimizes the adsorption energy of <sup>*</sup>LiO<sub>2</sub> intermediates, thereby accelerating the redox kinetics. Meanwhile, strengthened Metal─S coordination elevates metal vacancy formation energies by 1-3 times, which suppresses atomic leaching to improve structural stability. Therefore, our unique catalyst achieves a low overpotential (0.48 V), and an exceptional lifespan (452 cycles), significantly outperforming most reported noble-metal-free catalysts.
Authors
- Minghao Hua (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0914-5674)
- Yingjian Nie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-5632-9649)
- Luyuan Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9972-0742)
- Xiaobin Hui (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9513-3188)
- Lei Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8723-3461)
- Yun Hua Guo
- Longwei Yin
- Xiaohang Lin
- Chengxiang Wang
- Peng Wang
- Zhiwei Zhang
- Jiafeng Li
Institutions
- Qingdao University (CN)
- Shandong University (CN)
- Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia (MY)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Materials
- Published
- 2026-02-15
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.72512
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Battery Materials and Technologies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00