What Makes High-Entropy Alloys Exceptional Electrocatalysts?

Abstract

The formation of a vast number of different multielement active sites in compositionally complex solid solution materials, often more generally termed high-entropy alloys, offers new and unique concepts in catalyst design, which mitigate existing limitations and change the view on structure–activity relations. We discuss these concepts by summarising the currently existing fundamental knowledge and critically assess the chances and limitations of this material class, also highlighting design strategies. A roadmap is proposed, illustrating which of the characteristic concepts could be exploited using which strategy, and which breakthroughs might be possible to guide future research in this highly promising material class for (electro)catalysis.