High-entropy spinel oxide (Fe0.2Mg0.2Mn0.1Al0.3Cr0.2)3O4 as a highly active and stable redox material for methane driven solar thermochemical water splitting

Abstract

Solar thermochemical H2O splitting has attained wide attention as a promising solution for hydrogen production. However, it remains a daunting challenge to produce hydrogen with high kinetics and stability for the oxide materials at lower temperature because of insufficient active sites for H2O activation and splitting. Herein, we report a high-entropy spinel oxide that consists of five cations (HEO) and can highly-effectively thermochemically split H2O to H2 with ultrahigh production rate and productivity of 182.9 mL min-1 g-1 and 68.5 mL g-1, respectively, several times higher than state-of-the-art materials via a two-step cycle process with methane driven reduction. High-entropy effect facilitated the preservation of single-phase structure even at large amount of oxygen converted (almost 70 mL g-1), which promoted the exsolution and stabilization of substantial Fe0 nanoparticles (20–30 nm vs. 100 nm) and their dissolution into spinel structure during redox process, resulting in extensive metal-oxide interfaces with metal-oxygen vacancy pairs responsible for the efficient and stable water splitting. Such findings provide a class of viable material with high configurational entropy for efficient hydrogen generation.