Complete stabilization of surface oxygen vacancies in high-entropy oxides
Abstract
High-entropy oxides retain a significantly larger population of oxygen vacancies (OVs) compared to their single-element or binary metal oxide counterparts, highlighting their unique potential as prospective electrocatalytic materials. However, the stabilization of surface oxygen vacancies (S-OVs) is highly challenging due to their inherently dynamic nature generally resulting in defect healing, migration, or initiation of structural collapse under operating conditions. By means of rational high-throughput materials science, we investigate the stability of S-OVs in (Cu-Fe-Ni-Cr-Zn)O x high-entropy oxides covering a compositional search space of at least 5 to 35 %. A methodology based on X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray absorption spectroscopy is utilized to quantitatively follow the distribution of the OVs across the materials library. For low Zn stoichiometries, (Cu 14 -Fe 13 -Ni 5 -Cr 8 -Zn 4 )O 55 , complete stabilization of S-OVs is achieved even after prolonged exposure to ambient environment. The discovery of S-OV stabilization in our high-entropy oxide system is a prerequisite to exploit the unique properties of this class of materials for electrocatalytic applications and beyond.
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BibTeX
@misc{bartl2026complete,
title = {{Complete stabilization of surface oxygen vacancies in high-entropy oxides}},
author = {Johannes D. Bartl and Nophar Tubul Levy and Alina Sermiagin and Noa Levi and Sidharth Reghunathan and Bibhudatta Malik and Shany Myers and Adi Kama and Roberto Félix and Regan G. Wilks and Susan Nehzati and Marcus Bär and Hannah Noa Barad},
howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15006746/v3},
url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15006746/v3},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Complete stabilization of surface oxygen vacancies in high-entropy oxides
AU - Johannes D. Bartl
AU - Nophar Tubul Levy
AU - Alina Sermiagin
AU - Noa Levi
AU - Sidharth Reghunathan
AU - Bibhudatta Malik
AU - Shany Myers
AU - Adi Kama
AU - Roberto Félix
AU - Regan G. Wilks
AU - Susan Nehzati
AU - Marcus Bär
AU - Hannah Noa Barad
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/23
PB - ChemRxiv
DO - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15006746/v3
UR - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15006746/v3
AB - High-entropy oxides retain a significantly larger population of oxygen vacancies (OVs) compared to their single-element or binary metal oxide counterparts, highlighting their unique potential as prospective electrocatalytic materials. However, the stabilization of surface oxygen vacancies (S-OVs) is highly challenging due to their inherently dynamic nature generally resulting in defect healing, migration, or initiation of structural collapse under operating conditions. By means of rational high-throughput materials science, we investigate the stability of S-OVs in (Cu-Fe-Ni-Cr-Zn)O x high-entropy oxides covering a compositional search space of at least 5 to 35 %. A methodology based on X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray absorption spectroscopy is utilized to quantitatively follow the distribution of the OVs across the materials library. For low Zn stoichiometries, (Cu 14 -Fe 13 -Ni 5 -Cr 8 -Zn 4 )O 55 , complete stabilization of S-OVs is achieved even after prolonged exposure to ambient environment. The discovery of S-OV stabilization in our high-entropy oxide system is a prerequisite to exploit the unique properties of this class of materials for electrocatalytic applications and beyond.
ER -