Deciphering the exceptional chemical activity of a High-entropy metallic glass

Abstract

High-entropy metallic glasses (HEMGs), characterized by both compositional and structural disorders, serve as exemplary systems for exploring entropy effects. This study shows that a Fe25Co25Mn25Si10B15 HEMG significantly outperforms conventional Fe-based MGs and reduced iron in degrading azo dyes in a neutral environment. Through experiments and density functional theory calculations, it is identified that three entropy-related factors boost the reactivity: the high-entropy structure leading to an uneven charge distribution, the well-dispersed Fe atoms initiating the reaction, and the disordered structure activating otherwise inactive Co atoms. These factors collectively enhance the reactivity, highlighting how entropy can influence chemical properties of alloys.

Keywords

• High-entropy alloys
• metallic glasses
• entropy effect
• density functional theory
• chemical properties