Introduction
Join us in either London in May 2025 for this edition of the Faraday Discussion series. The Faraday Discussions are unique international discussion meetings that address current and emerging topics at the forefront of the physical sciences.This meeting is for established and early-career scientists, postgraduate students and industrial researchers working on various aspects of high-entropy alloy nanostructures. It will provide an ideal forum for cross-fertilisation of ideas and understanding between the distinct but adjacent communities working in this exciting field. On behalf of the organising committee, we look forward to welcoming you to London.
Format
Faraday Discussions have a special format where primary research papers written by the speakers are distributed to all participants before the meeting, and most of the meeting is devoted to discussing the papers. All delegates at the meeting, not just speakers, have the opportunity to make comments, ask questions, or present complementary or contradictory measurements and calculations during the discussion sessions. In addition, there is a dedicated poster session where further discussion takes place. The research papers and a record of the discussion are published in the journal Faraday Discussions.Themes
To benefit from the predicted superior properties of high-entropy alloy (HEA) nanostructures in future energy solutions, many fundamental scientific questions and challenges still remain. These include: the development of new synthetic routes to achieve nanostructures with compositional, morphological and structural control; development of new high-throughput characterization routines to examine the structural and elemental distribution of multi-elemental nanostructured materials with high spatial resolution; the development of theoretical models to predict the catalytic properties and active sites driving the reactions on multi-elemental surfaces; the evolution of HEA nanostructured catalysts under realistic operating conditions; magnetic properties of HEAs. This Faraday Discussion aims to bring together pioneers within this area in a cross-disciplinary manner by providing a platform to explore possible solutions to these challenges, while establishing a fundamental understanding of these novel materials. The synergy of combining theoretical and experimental experts to address these key questions will be brought out through the following four key sessions:Synthesizing high-entropy alloy nanoparticles
In the first session, we will focus on the current methodologies for synthesizing HEA nanostructures using both chemical and physical approaches. Particular emphasis will be devoted to understand how the kinetic or thermodynamic character of the synthesis method predefines particle structure and compositions as well as compositional or structural variance. Furthermore, scalability of the methods and the application of in situ spectroscopy during synthesis will be addressed.
Advanced structural characterization of high-entropy alloy nanostructures
This session will focus on structural characterization, both experimental and computational approaches. These includes both ex situ and in situ/operando, TEM based techniques, neutron and X-ray scattering, spectroscopy, and Monte Carlo strategies. The key limitations of current, conventional characterization techniques will be discussed with a focus on development of advanced characterization tools to provide a complete picture of HEAs.
Application of high-entropy alloy nanostructures in electrocatalysis
This session will cover experimental and computational studies of HEA nanocatalysts as electrocatalysts, including electrochemistry and -catalysis, surface- and bulk-sensitive operando characterization, density functional theory (DFT), machine-learning and novel approaches to determining the electrocatalytic properties of HEAs. A particular focus will be outlining a framework through which new catalyst compositions can be identified, tested, and their performance understood in order to guide further catalyst development.
Magnetic properties of high-entropy alloy nanostructures
In this session, the magnetic properties of HEA nanostructures will be addressed. A special focus will be directed towards understanding how optimal properties can be reached through nanostructure size, shape and compositional control in combination with the effect of external sources such as the embedding matrix.
