Highly Active FeCoNiCuMn High-Entropy Alloys/Carbon Cloth Composite: Synthesis and Its Performance in Thermo-Electrochemical Cells

doi:10.15541/jim20260030

Abstract

Abstract: Thermo-electrochemical cells (TECs) are a new type of system for harvesting low-grade waste heat. Their development and utilization can contribute to improving overall energy efficiency and mitigating the urban heat island effect. Metallic platinum (Pt), a commonly used electrode material in TEC research, is costly, which significantly limits the widespread application of TECs. Therefore, developing low-cost, high-performance alternative electrodes has become a research hotspot in the field of TECs. In this study, commercial carbon cloth (CC) was used as both the substrate and structural directing agent. Then, catalytically active FeCoNiCuMn high-entropy alloy (HEAs) nanoparticles were uniformly grown onto CC, forming a FeCoNiCuMn HEAs/CC composite, and used as an electrode material for TECs. The high-entropy effect of HEAs endows the composite with the stable chemical structure, while the interaction among its multiple principal elements enhances its catalytic activity and reaction kinetics. Thus, the FeCoNiCuMn HEAs/CC electrode possesses a higher electrochemical active surface area (2.52 cm²) and lower charge transfer resistance (2 Ω) compared to CC, the ternary FeCoNi/CC, and the quaternary FeCoNiCu/CC. Furthermore, the HEAs/CC-based TECs achieves a current density of 0.35 mA·cm^-2 and an output power density of 30.40 mW·m^-2 under a temperature difference of 22.0 K, significantly higher than those achieved by TECs using CC (0.17 mA·cm^-2/14.55 mW·m^-2), FeCoNi/CC (0.27 mA·cm^-2/19.00 mW·m^-2), and FeCoNiCu/CC (0.30 mA·cm^-2/24.44 mW·m^-2) as electrodes under the same conditions. Additionally, the cell system maintains 91.5% of its initial short-circuit current after 7 d of cycling and also exhibits good reversibility. The highly active FeCoNiCuMn HEAs/CC composite constructed in this study provides a promising pathway for the development and application of low-cost, high-performance TECs electrode materials.

Key words: low-grade waste harvesting, thermo-electrochemical cell, electrode material, high-entropy alloy

CLC Number:

TQ174

ZHU Mengting, ZHANG Ruifeng, QIAO Zihan, MA Ruguang, WU Zhengying. Highly Active FeCoNiCuMn High-Entropy Alloys/Carbon Cloth Composite: Synthesis and Its Performance in Thermo-Electrochemical Cells[J]. Journal of Inorganic Materials, DOI: 10.15541/jim20260030.

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