Promoting C–C bond cleavage of ethanol by a complete 12-electron (12e) ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) is a grand challenge for the development of highly efficient direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs). Most state-of-the-art catalysts only implement the EOR in an incomplete 4e or 2e pathway because of the poisoning of the catalysts by strongly adsorbed CO, leading to the poor output performance and low cell efficiency of DEFCs. Herein, a septenary PtPdFeCoNiSnMn high-entropy alloy (PtPd HEA) with a PtPd-rich surface but super-low platinum group metals loading was developed. We identified and proved the functions of each element in the PtPd HEA. The DEFCs assembled with the PtPd HEA (0.12 mg_PtPd^.cm⁻²) achieved a maximum power density of 0.72 W cm⁻² and a durable operation for 1,200 h, which outperforms state-of-the-art catalysts for DEFCs. This work will be a design principle for nanostructured alloy development for renewable energy and sustainability applications.

通过完整的 12 电子 (12e) 乙醇氧化反应 (EOR) 促进乙醇的 C–C 键断裂是开发高效直接乙醇燃料电池 (DEFC) 的重大挑战。大多数最先进的催化剂仅在不完整的 4e 或 2e 途径中实施 EOR，因为催化剂被强吸附的 CO 毒化，导致 DEFC 的输出性能差和电池效率低。在此，开发了一种表面富含 PtPd 但铂族金属含量超低的七元 PtPdFeCoNiSnMn 高熵合金 (PtPd HEA)。我们确定并证明了 PtPd HEA 中每个元素的功能。_{用 PtPd HEA（0.12 mg PtPd} ^. cm ^-2 ）组装的 DEFC达到了 0.72 W cm ^-2的最大功率密度以及 1,200 小时的持久运行，优于最先进的 DEFC 催化剂。这项工作将成为用于可再生能源和可持续性应用的纳米结构合金开发的设计原则。