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Entropy engineering in multimetallic hydroxides and oxides: a new paradigm for electrocatalytic oxygen evolution.
Chandrasekaran Pitchai1, Mahalakshmi Vedanarayanan2, Chih-Ming Chen1,3,4
1Department of Chemical Engineering, National Chung Hsing University, 145 Xingda Road, South District, Taichung 40227, Taiwan. chencm@nchu.edu.tw.
Nanoscale Horizons
|June 16, 2026
Summary
High-entropy materials offer a transformative approach to earth-abundant electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Entropy engineering stabilizes defect-rich structures, enhancing catalyst activity and stability for energy conversion.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Electrochemistry
- Catalysis
Background:
- The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a critical bottleneck in electrochemical energy conversion.
- Earth-abundant electrocatalysts with high activity and stability are needed.
- High-entropy oxides and hydroxides have emerged as promising catalyst platforms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To provide a comprehensive review of entropy engineering strategies for OER electrocatalysis.
- To discuss fundamental principles, structure-property relationships, and recent advances in high-entropy materials for OER.
- To highlight mechanistic insights and future perspectives in the field.
Main Methods:
- Review of thermodynamic principles for high-entropy stabilization.
- Analysis of structure-property relationships in crystalline and amorphous high-entropy oxides, perovskites, spinels, and hydroxides.
- Examination of mechanistic insights, including adsorbate evolution, lattice oxygen-mediated pathways, and operando reconstruction.
Main Results:
- Configurational entropy stabilizes multimetallic, defect-rich structures with tunable properties.
- Key effects include lattice distortion, sluggish diffusion, and multication interactions.
- Advances span various high-entropy material classes, revealing complex OER pathways in disordered lattices.
Conclusions:
- High-entropy materials represent a transformative paradigm for next-generation OER catalysts.
- Future directions include entropy-aware modeling, operando characterization, and machine learning-guided discovery.
- Expansion towards neutral-media and multifunctional electrocatalysis is crucial.
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