An amorphous FeCoNiMnCr high-entropy alloy supported by 2H-MoS2 on carbon cloth as a highly efficient and robust electrocatalyst for water oxidation

Abstract

Efficient and robust electrocatalysts towards the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are highly desirable in electrochemical systems for applications including water splitting and metal-air batteries. Herein, we report the preparation of an amorphous FeCoNiMnCr high-entropy alloy (HEA) on the surface of flower-like 2H-MoS₂ (FeCoNiMnCr@MoS₂) as a highly efficient electrocatalyst for the OER. The flower-like 2H-MoS₂ is prepared on the flexible conductive carbon cloth (MoS₂-CC) via a hydrothermal method, and subsequently the amorphous FeCoNiMnCr HEA is loaded on the surface of 2H-MoS₂via an electrodeposition method to form FeCoNiMnCr@MoS₂-CC electrocatalysts. Owing to the unique microstructure of 2H-MoS₂ and abundant active sites of FeCoNiMnCr HEA, the FeCoNiMnCr@MoS₂-CC electrocatalysts exhibit significantly improved OER electrocatalytic performances with a low overpotential of 210 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm⁻² and a small Tafel slope of 40.3 mV dec⁻¹ in 1.0 M KOH solution. Moreover, it shows excellent stability for OER electrocatalysis with the potential barely increased for at least 50 h. This work sheds light on the development of highly efficient OER electrocatalysts based on HEAs.