Nanoscale rock-salt structured high-entropy metal oxides for catalysis

Abstract

High-entropy materials are a new class of solids that are rapidly growing in scientific interest differ because they are formed and stabilized by the large configurational entropy generated by their multi-elemental composition. Due to the large range of possible multi-elemental configurations, it is possible to tune the chemical and physical properties for specific electronic and catalytic purposes. The focus of this research is the wet chemical synthesis and characterization of nanoscale high-entropy metal oxides with a rock-salt structure. Specifically, this research focuses on high-entropy oxide nanomaterial catalysts that are made from earth-abundant and inexpensive precursor metals. Although there have been recent reports regarding very interesting catalytic properties, the ability to control the structure of this class of materials on the nanoscale remains a challenge. If this class of materials can be tailored in terms of both composition and nanoscale morphology, they offer a path using earth abundant systems to replace current catalytic materials which are generally rare and expensive metals such as platinum, iridium, and rhodium.