MOF-mediated synthesis of novel PtFeCoNiMn high-entropy nanoalloy as bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts for zinc-air battery

High-entropy alloy(HEA)-based materials are expected to be promising oxygen electrocatalysts due to their exceptional properties.The electronic structure regulation of HEAs plays a pivotal role in enhancing their elctrocatalytic ability.Herein,PtFeCoNiMn nanoparticles(NPs)with subtle lattice distortions are constructed on metal-organic framework-derived nitrogen-doped carbon by an ultra-rapid Joule heating process.Thanks to the modulated electronic structure and the inherent cocktail effect of HEAs,the as-synthesized PtFeCoNiMn/NC exhibits superior bifunctional electrocatalytic performance with a positive half-wave potential of 0.863 V vs.reversible hydrogen electrode(RHE)for oxygen reduction reaction and a low overpotential of 357 mV at 10 mA·cm^(-2)for oxygen evolution reaction.The assembled quasi-solid-state zinc-air battery using PtFeCoNiMn/NC as air electrode shows a high peak power density of 192.16 mW·cm^(-2),low charge−discharge voltage gap,and excellent durability over 500 cycles at 5 mA·cm^(-2).This work demonstrates an effective route for rational design of bifunctional nanostructured HEA electrocatalysts with favorable electronic structures,and opens up a fascinating directions for energy storage and conversion,and beyond.