Novel Class of Proton Conducting Materials—High Entropy Oxides

Here, for the first time, we present data on proton conductivity of high-entropy, single-phase perovskites. The BaZr0.2Sn0.2Ti0.2Hf0.2Ce0.2O3−δ, BaZr0.2Sn0.2Ti0.2Hf0.2Y0.2O3−δ, BaZr1/7Sn1/7Ti1/7Hf1/7Ce1/7Nb1/7Y1/7O3−δ, and BaZr0.15Sn0.15Ti0.15Hf0.15Ce0.15Nb0.15Y0.10O3−δ single-phase perovskites were synthesized. Before electrical measurements, materials were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The following experimental results demonstrated that studied high-entropy perovskites are proton conductors: (1) The observed mass increase upon the switch from dry to wet atmosphere confirmed the water incorporation into materials structure. (2) The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) revealed that the total conductivity increased while its activation energy decreased in the presence of water vapor in the atmosphere. (3) The conductivity in atmosphere humidified with H2O and D2O differed one from another, showing typical of proton conductors isotope effect in high-entropy oxides.