The controllable incorporation of multiple immiscible elements into a single nanoparticle merits untold scientific and technological potential, yet remains a challenge using conventional synthetic techniques. We present a general route for alloying up to eight dissimilar elements into single-phase solid-solution nanoparticles, referred to as high-entropy-alloy nanoparticles (HEA-NPs), by thermally shocking precursor metal salt mixtures loaded onto carbon supports [temperature ~2000 kelvin (K), 55-millisecond duration, rate of ~10 K per second]. We synthesized a wide range of multicomponent nanoparticles with a desired chemistry (composition), size, and phase (solid solution, phase-separated) by controlling the carbothermal shock (CTS) parameters (substrate, temperature, shock duration, and heating/cooling rate). To prove utility, we synthesized quinary HEA-NPs as ammonia oxidation catalysts with ~100% conversion and >99% nitrogen oxide selectivity over prolonged operations.

A bimodal porous evaporator is developed for efficient, stable, and salt-rejecting desalination of seawater and high-concentration brines.

All-in-one wood-based solar steam generation devices were prepared by directly carbonizing the top surface of natural wood materials. High solar steam generation efficiencies were achieved by virtue of the excellent hydrophilicity, low thermal conductivity, interconnected porous network, and improved light absorption capability, demonstrating the great potential of natural wood in energy-water nexus applications.

Space cooling is a predominant part of energy consumption in people's daily life. Although cooling the whole building is an effective way to provide personal comfort in hot weather, it is energy-consuming and high-cost. Personal cooling technology, being able to provide personal thermal comfort by directing local heat to the thermally regulated environment, has been regarded as one of the most promising technologies for cooling energy and cost savings. Here, we demonstrate a personal thermal regulated textile using thermally conductive and highly aligned boron nitride (BN)/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) composite (denoted as a-BN/PVA) fibers to improve the thermal transport properties of textiles for personal cooling. The a-BN/PVA composite fibers are fabricated through a fast and scalable three-dimensional (3D) printing method. Uniform dispersion and high alignment of BN nanosheets (BNNSs) can be achieved during the processing of fiber fabrication, leading to a combination of high mechanical strength (355 MPa) and favorable heat dispersion. Due to the improved thermal transport property imparted by the thermally conductive and highly aligned BNNSs, better cooling effect (55% improvement over the commercial cotton fiber) can be realized in the a-BN/PVA textile. The wearable a-BN/PVA textiles containing the 3D-printed a-BN/PVA fibers offer a promising selection for meeting the personal cooling requirement, which can significantly reduce the energy consumption and cost for cooling the whole building.

Transition metal sulfides with a multi‐elemental nature represent a class of promising catalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) owing to their good catalytic activity. However, their synthesis remains a challenge due to the thermodynamic immiscibility of the constituent multimetallic elements in a sulfide structure. Herein, for the first time the synthesis of high‐entropy metal sulfide (HEMS, i.e., (CrMnFeCoNi)Sx) solid solution nanoparticles is reported. Computational and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis suggest that the (CrMnFeCoNi)Sx exhibits a synergistic effect among metal atoms that leads to desired electronic states to enhance OER activity. The (CrMnFeCoNi)Sx nanoparticles show one of the best activities (low overpotential 295 mV at 100 mA cm−2 in 1 m KOH solution) and good durability (only slight polarization after 10 h by chronopotentiometry) compared with their unary, binary, ternary, and quaternary sulfide counterparts. This work opens up a new synthesis paradigm for high‐entropy compound nanoparticles for highly efficient electrocatalysis applications.