Resolving Atomic-Scale Metallic Mixing Peptide-Enabled High Entropy Alloy Nanocatalysts using in-situ HE-XRD coupled to PDF analysis and rev

Homogenous alloy of 5 or more elements, commonly referred to as high entropy alloy nanocatalysts (HEAs), have recently demonstrated novel catalytic properties for a wide range of emerging electrocatalytic reactions. However, the absence of advance structural characterization efforts, especially those afforded by atomic-scale structural resolution, hinders our understanding about the true origin of HEAs’ catalytic enhancement. On the back of our group’s recent breakthrough in resolving the atomic structure of HEAs, aided by PDF coupled with reverse Monte Carlo simulations, we are proposing a new set of experiments to study the dynamic structural changes in HEAs under electrochemical conditions. Using in-situ PDF analysis, we aim to uncover the spatiotemporal structural evolution of HEAs during methanol oxidation reaction, allowing us to build accurate structure-property relationships, which in turn will assist in the developing rational design strategies for HEAs.