A-Site High-Entropy Engineering of Oxygen Electrode: A Promising Route to Durable and Active Reversible Solid Oxide Cells.

Li, Xuelian; Feng, Jiangyuan; Sun, Ning; Zheng, Guozhu; Chen, Ting; Zhou, Yucun; Xu, Lang; Zhang, Keying et al. · Adv Mater · 2026

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Reversible solid oxide cells (RSOCs) are promising for their highly efficient power-fuel interconversion and serve as a critical technology for building a carbon-neutral energy ecosystem. However, their widespread implementation is impeded by insufficient electrocatalytic activity and stability of conventional oxygen electrodes. Here, we design a high-entropy single-phase perovskite, Pr<sub>0.2</sub>Nd<sub>0.2</sub>Sm<sub>0.2</sub>Ba<sub>0.2</sub>Sr<sub>0.2</sub>CoO<sub>3-δ</sub> (PNSBSC), engineered from Sm<sub>0.6</sub>Sr<sub>0.4</sub>CoO<sub>3-δ</sub> (SSC), to overcome the classic activity-stability trade-off in perovskite oxides. A PNSBSC-based button cell delivers a peak power density of 2.06 W cm<sup>-2</sup> in fuel cell mode and a high current density of 2.54 A cm<sup>-2</sup> at 1.3 V in electrolysis mode (50% H<sub>2</sub>O) at 800 °C. The cell also demonstrates exceptional stability, sustaining 120 h of continuous operation in both modes and three reversible cycles at 700 °C without performance degradation. Its scalability and robustness are further verified using a large-area cell (30 W output, >80 h stability) and by sustaining a notable 40 A electrolysis current at 1.3 V (80% H<sub>2</sub>O, 750 °C). First-principles calculations corroborate the enhanced activity and stability, which are attributed to the high-configurational-entropy design. This work establishes entropy engineering as a viable paradigm for developing high-performance and durable electrodes for advanced RSOCs.