Synthesis of perovskite-type high-entropy oxides as potential candidates for oxygen evolution

High-entropy materials offer a wide range of possibilities for synthesizing new functional ceramics for different applications. Many synthesis methods have been explored to achieve a single-phase structure incorporating several different elements, yet a comparison between the synthesis methods is crucial to identify the new dimension such complex ceramics bring to material properties. As known for ceramic materials, the synthesis procedure usually has a significant influence on powder morphology, elemental distribution, particle size and powder processability. Properties that need to be tailored according to specific applications. Therefore, in this study perovskite-type high-entropy materials (Gd$_{0.2}$La$_{0.2–x}$Sr$_x$Nd$_{0.2}$Sm$_{0.2}$Y$_{0.2}$) (Co$_{0.2}$Cr$_{0.2}$Fe$_{0.2}$Mn$_{0.2}$Ni$_{0.2}$)O$_3$ (x = 0 and x = 0.2) are synthesized for the first time using mechanochemical synthesis and a modified Pechini method. The comparison of different syntheses allows, not only tailoring of the constituent elements of high-entropy materials, but also to optimize the synthesis method as needed to overcome limitations of conventional ceramics. ... mehrTo exploit the novel materials for a variety of energy applications, their catalytic activity for oxygen evolution reaction was characterized. This paves the way for their integration into, e.g., regenerative fuel cells and metal air batteries.