Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

High-entropy ceramics: Propelling applications through disorder

  • Review Article
  • Published:
MRS Bulletin Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Disorder enhances desired properties, as well as creating new avenues for synthesizing materials. For instance, hardness and yield stress are improved by solid-solution strengthening, a result of distortions and atomic-size mismatches. Thermochemical stability is increased by the preference of chemically disordered mixtures for high-symmetry superlattices. Vibrational thermal conductivity is decreased by force-constant disorder without sacrificing mechanical strength and stiffness. Thus, high-entropy ceramics propel a wide range of applications: from wear-resistant coatings and thermal and environmental barriers to catalysts, batteries, thermoelectrics, and nuclear energy management. Here, we discuss recent progress of the field, with a particular emphasis on disorder-enhanced properties and applications.

Graphical abstract

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.

References

  1. C. Toher, C. Oses, D. Hicks, S. Curtarolo, NPJ Comput. Mater. 5, 69 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. C. Oses, C. Toher, S. Curtarolo, Nat. Rev. Mater. 5, 295 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. C.M. Rost, E. Sachet, T. Borman, A. Moballegh, E.C. Dickey, D. Hou, J.L. Jones, S. Curtarolo, J.-P. Maria, Nat. Commun. 6, 8485 (2015)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. M. Qin, J. Gild, C. Hu, H. Wang, M.S.B. Hoque, J.L. Braun, T.J. Harrington, P.E. Hopkins, K.S. Vecchio, J. Luo, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 40, 5037 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. O.F. Dippo, N. Mesgarzadeh, T.J. Harrington, G.D. Schrader, K.S. Vecchio, Sci. Rep. 10, 21288 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. T. Wen, B. Ye, M.C. Nguyen, M. Ma, Y. Chu, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 103, 6475 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. T.-K. Chen, T.T. Shun, J.-W. Yeh, M.S. Wong, Surf. Coat. Technol. 188, 193 (2004)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. T.-K. Chen, M.-S. Wong, T.-T. Shun, J.-W. Yeh, Surf. Coat. Technol. 200, 1361 (2005)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. C.-H. Lai, S.-J. Lin, J.-W. Yeh, S.-Y. Chang, Surf. Coat. Technol. 201, 3275 (2006)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. P. Sarker, T. Harrington, C. Toher, C. Oses, M. Samiee, J.-P. Maria, D.W. Brenner, K.S. Vecchio, S. Curtarolo, Nat. Commun. 9, 4980 (2018)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. J. Gild, Y. Zhang, T. Harrington, S. Jiang, T. Hu, M.C. Quinn, W.M. Mellor, N. Zhou, K. Vecchio, J. Luo, Sci. Rep. 6, 37946 (2016)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. J. Gild, J. Braun, K. Kaufmann, E. Marin, T.J. Harrington, P.E. Hopkins, K.S. Vecchio, J. Luo, J. Materiomics 5, 337 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. J. Zhu, X. Meng, J. Xu, P. Zhang, Z. Lou, M.J. Reece, F. Gao, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 41, 1052 (2021)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. L. Chen, Y. Wang, M. Hu, L. Zhang, J. Wang, Z. Zhang, X. Liang, J. Guo, J. Feng, Appl. Phys. Lett. 118, 071905 (2021)

  15. L. Zhou, F. Li, J.-X. Liu, Q. Hu, W. Bao, Y. Wu, X. Cao, F. Xu, G.-J. Zhang, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 40, 5731 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. J. Zhu, X. Meng, P. Zhang, Z. Li, J. Xu, M.J. Reece, F. Gao, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 41, 2861 (2021)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. T.J. Harrington, J. Gild, P. Sarker, C. Toher, C.M. Rost, O.F. Dippo, C. McElfresh, K. Kaufmann, E. Marin, L. Borowski, P.E. Hopkins, J. Luo, S. Curtarolo, D.W. Brenner, K.S. Vecchio, Acta Mater. 166, 271 (2019)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. T. Csanádi, M. Vojtko, Z. Dankházi, M.J. Reece, J. Dusza, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 40, 4774 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. D. Moskovskikh, S. Vorotilo, V. Buinevich, A. Sedegov, K. Kuskov, A. Khort, C. Shuck, M. Zhukovskyi, A. Mukasyan, Sci. Rep. 10, 19874 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. V. Braic, M. Balaceanu, M. Braic, A. Vladescu, S. Panseri, A. Russo, J. Mech. Behav. Biomed. Mater. 10, 197 (2012)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. M.-H. Tsai, C.-W. Wang, C.-H. Lai, J.-W. Yeh, J.-Y. Gan, Appl. Phys. Lett. 92, 052109 (2008)

  22. A. Sarkar, L. Velasco, D. Wang, Q. Wang, G. Talasila, L. de Biasi, C. Kübel, T. Brezesinski, S.S. Bhattacharya, H. Hahn, B. Breitung, Nat. Commun. 9, 3400 (2018)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Y. Chen, H. Fu, Y. Huang, L. Huang, X. Zheng, Y. Dai, Y. Huang, W. Luo, ACS Mater. Lett. 3, 160 (2021)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. M. Fracchia, P. Ghigna, T. Pozzi, U. Anselmi Tamburini, V. Colombo, L. Braglia, P. Torelli, J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 11, 3589 (2020)

  25. J.L. Braun, C.M. Rost, M. Lim, A. Giri, D.H. Olson, G.N. Kotsonis, G. Stan, D.W. Brenner, J.-P. Maria, P.E. Hopkins, Adv. Mater. 30, 1805004 (2018)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Y. Zheng, M. Zou, W. Zhang, D. Yi, J. Lan, C.-W. Nan, Y.-H. Lin, J. Adv. Ceram. 10, 377 (2021)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. B. Jiang, Y. Yu, J. Cui, X. Liu, L. Xie, J. Liao, Q. Zhang, Y. Huang, S. Ning, B. Jia, B. Zhu, S. Bai, L. Chen, S.J. Pennycook, J. He, Science 371, 830 (2021)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. B. Jiang, Y. Yu, H. Chen, J. Cui, X. Liu, L. Xie, J. He, Nat. Commun. 12, 3234 (2021)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Y. Sharma, Q. Zheng, A. R. Mazza, E. Skoropata, T. Heitmann, Z. Gai, B. Musico, P.F. Miceli, B.C. Sales, V. Keppens, M. Brahlek, T.Z. Ward, Phys. Rev. Mater. 4, 014404 (2020)

  30. Y. Pu, Q. Zhang, R. Li, M. Chen, X. Du, S. Zhou, Appl. Phys. Lett. 115, 223901 (2019)

  31. J. Liu, K. Ren, C. Ma, H. Du, Y. Wang, Ceram. Int. 46, 20576 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. M. Zhang, X. Xu, Y. Yue, M. Palma, M.J. Reece, H. Yan, Mater. Des. 200, 109447 (2021)

  33. G.N. Kotsonis, P.B. Meisenheimer, L. Miao, J. Roth, B. Wang, P. Shafer, R. Engel-Herbert, N. Alem, J.T. Heron, C.M. Rost, J.-P. Maria, Phys. Rev. Mater. 4, 100401 (2020)

  34. M. Qin, J. Gild, H. Wang, T. Harrington, K.S. Vecchio, J. Luo, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 40, 4348 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. L. Feng, W.-T. Chen, W.G. Fahrenholtz, G.E. Hilmas, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 104, 419 (2021)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. A. Vojdani Saghir, S. Mollazadeh Beidokhti, J. Vahdati Khaki, A. Salimi, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 41, 563 (2021)

  37. W. Zhang, L. Chen, C. Xu, W. Lu, Y. Wang, J. Ouyang, Y. Zhou, J. Mater. Sci. Technol. 72, 23 (2021)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. L. Feng, W.G. Fahrenholtz, G.E. Hilmas, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 102, 7217 (2019)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. T. Li, Y. Yao, Z. Huang, P. Xie, Z. Liu, M. Yang, J. Gao, K. Zeng, A.H. Brozena, G. Pastel, M. Jiao, Q. Dong, J. Dai, S. Li, H. Zong, M. Chi, J. Luo, Y. Mo, G. Wang, C. Wang, R. Shahbazian-Yassar, L. Hu, Nat. Catal. 4, 62 (2021)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. A. Zunger, S.-H. Wei, L.G. Ferreira, J.E. Bernard, Phys. Rev. Lett. 65, 353 (1990)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. K. Yang, C. Oses, S. Curtarolo, Chem. Mater. 28, 6484 (2016)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. K. Kaufmann, D. Maryanovsky, W.M. Mellor, C. Zhu, A.S. Rosengarten, T.J. Harrington, C. Oses, C. Toher, S. Curtarolo, K.S. Vecchio, NPJ Comput. Mater. 6, 42 (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  43. D.G. Sangiovanni, F. Tasnádi, T. Harrington, M. Odén, K.S. Vecchio, I.A. Abrikosov, Mater. Des. 204, 109634 (2021)

  44. F.-Z. Dai, Y. Sun, B. Wen, H. Xiang, Y. Zhou, J. Mater. Sci. Technol. 72, 8 (2021)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. C.M. Rost, Z. Rák, D.W. Brenner, J.-P. Maria, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 100, 2732 (2017)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. Z. Rák, J.-P. Maria, D.W. Brenner, Mater. Lett. 217, 300 (2018)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. P.-K. Huang, J.-W. Yeh, Scr. Mater. 62, 105 (2010)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. F. Wang, X. Zhang, X. Yan, Y. Lu, M. Nastasi, Y. Chen, B. Cui, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 103, 4463 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. B. Ye, T. Wen, K. Huang, C.-Z. Wang, Y. Chu, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 102, 4344 (2019)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. Y. Wang, T. Csanádi, H. Zhang, J. Dusza, M.J. Reece, R.-Z. Zhang, Adv. Theory Simul. 3, 2000111 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  51. P.H. Mayrhofer, A. Kirnbauer, Ph. Ertelthaler, C.M. Koller, Scr. Mater. 149, 93 (2018)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  52. V.F. Gorban’, A.A. Andreyev, G.N. Kartmazov, A.M. Chikryzhov, M.V. Karpets, A.V. Dolomanov, A.A. Ostroverkh, E.V. Kantsyr, J. Superhard Mater. 39, 166 (2017)

  53. S.-C. Liang, Z.-C. Chang, D.-C. Tsai, Y.-C. Lin, H.-S. Sung, M.-J. Deng, F.-S. Shieu, Appl. Surf. Sci. 257, 7709 (2011)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  54. O.V. Sobol’, A.A. Andreev, V.F. Gorban’, N.A. Krapivka, V.A. Stolbovoi, I.V. Serdyuk, V.E. Fil’chikov, Tech. Phys. Lett. 38, 616 (2012)

  55. C. Peng, X. Gao, M. Wang, L. Wu, H. Tang, X. Li, Q. Zhang, Y. Ren, F. Zhang, Y. Wang, B. Zhang, B. Gao, Q. Zou, Y. Zhao, Q. Yang, D. Tian, H. Xiao, H. Gou, W. Yang, X. Bai, W.L. Mao, H.-k. Mao, Appl. Phys. Lett. 114, 011905 (2019)

  56. D. Demirskyi, T.S. Suzuki, K. Yoshimi, O. Vasylkiv, Open Ceram. 2, 100015 (2020)

  57. D. Demirskyi, T. Nishimura, T.S. Suzuki, Y. Sakka, O. Vasylkiv, K. Yoshimi, J. Asian Ceram. Soc. 8, 1262 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. X. Han, V. Girman, R. Sedlak, J. Dusza, E.G. Castle, Y. Wang, M. Reece, C. Zhang, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 40, 2709 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  59. K. Lu, J.-X. Liu, X.-F. Wei, W. Bao, Y. Wu, F. Li, F. Xu, G.-J. Zhang, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 40, 1839 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  60. M.D. Hossain, T. Borman, A. Kumar, X. Chen, A. Khosravani, S.R. Kalidindi, E.A. Paisley, M. Esters, C. Oses, C. Toher, S. Curtarolo, J.M. LeBeau, D. Brenner, J.-P. Maria, Acta Mater. 215, 117051 (2021)

  61. J.-X. Liu, X.-Q. Shen, Y. Wu, F. Li, Y. Liang, G.-J. Zhang, J. Adv. Ceram. 9, 503 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  62. C.M. Rost, T. Borman, M.D. Hossain, M. Lim, K.F. Quiambao-Tomko, J.A. Tomko, D.W. Brenner, J.-P. Maria, P.E. Hopkins, Acta Mater. 196, 231 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  63. D. Liu, A. Zhang, J. Jia, J. Meng, B. Su, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 40, 2746 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  64. A.J. Wright, Q. Wang, S.-T. Ko, K.M. Chung, R. Chen, J. Luo, Scr. Mater. 181, 76 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  65. H. Chen, H. Xiang, F.-Z. Dai, J. Liu, Y. Lei, J. Zhang, Y. Zhou, J. Mater. Sci. Technol. 35, 1700 (2019)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  66. X. Yan, L. Constantin, Y. Lu, J.-F. Silvain, M. Nastasi, B. Cui, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 101, 4486 (2018)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  67. P.B. Meisenheimer, L.D. Williams, S.H. Sung, J. Gim, P. Shafer, G.N. Kotsonis, J.-P. Maria, M. Trassin, R. Hovden, E. Kioupakis, J.T. Heron, Phys. Rev. Mater. 3, 104420 (2019)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  68. Y. Sharma, A.R. Mazza, B.L. Musico, E. Skoropata, R. Nepal, R. Jin, A.V. Ievlev, L. Collins, Z. Gai, A. Chen, M. Brahlek, V. Keppens, T.Z. Ward, ACS Appl. Mater. Int. 13, 17971 (2021)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  69. V. Jacobson, D. Diercks, B. To, A. Zakutayev, G. Brennecka, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 41, 2617 (2021)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  70. L. Zhou, F. Li, J.-X. Liu, S.-K. Sun, Y. Liang, G.-J. Zhang, J. Hazard. Mater. 415, 125596 (2021)

  71. B. Ye, T. Wen, D. Liu, Y. Chu, Corros. Sci. 153, 327 (2019)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  72. B. Ye, T. Wen, Y. Chu, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 103, 500 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  73. Y. Tan, C. Chen, S. Li, X. Han, J. Xue, T. Liu, X. Zhou, H. Zhang, J. Alloys Compd. 816, 152523 (2020)

  74. L. Backman, J. Gild, J. Luo, E.J. Opila, Acta Mater. 197, 20 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  75. L. Backman, J. Gild, J. Luo, E.J. Opila, Acta Mater. 197, 81 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  76. Y. Wang, R.-Z. Zhang, B. Zhang, O. Skurikhina, P. Balaz, V. Araullo-Peters, M.J. Reece, Corros. Sci. 176, 109019 (2020)

  77. H. Wang, S. Wang, Y. Cao, W. Liu, Y. Wang, J. Mater. Sci. Technol. 60, 147 (2021)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  78. H. Wang, Y. Cao, W. Liu, Y. Wang, Ceram. Int. 46, 11160 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  79. N. Qiu, H. Chen, Z. Yang, S. Sun, Y. Wang, Y. Cui, J. Alloys Compd. 777, 767 (2019)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  80. D. Bérardan, S. Franger, A.K. Meena, N. Dragoe, J. Mater. Chem. A 4, 9536 (2016)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  81. E. Lökçü, C. Toparli, M. Anik, ACS Appl. Mater. Int. 12, 23860 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  82. Z. Lun, B. Ouyang, D.-H. Kwon, Y. Ha, E.E. Foley, T.-Y. Huang, Z. Cai, H. Kim, M. Balasubramanian, Y. Sun, J. Huang, Y. Tian, H. Kim, B.D. McCloskey, W. Yang, R.J. Clément, H. Ji, G. Ceder, Nat. Mater. 20, 214 (2021)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  83. J. Wang, Y. Cui, Q. Wang, K. Wang, X. Huang, D. Stenzel, A. Sarkar, R. Amzi, T. Bergfeldt, S.S. Bhattacharya, R. Kruk, H. Hahn, S. Schweidler, T. Brezesinski, B. Breitung, Sci. Rep. 10, 18430 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  84. F. Tavani, M. Fracchia, N. Pianta, P. Ghigna, E. Quartarone, P. D’Angelo, Chem. Phys. Lett. 760, 137968 (2020)

  85. P. Ghigna, L. Airoldi, M. Fracchia, D. Callegari, U. Anselmi-Tamburini, P. D’Angelo, N. Pianta, R. Ruffo, G. Cibin, D.O. de Souza, E. Quartarone, ACS Appl. Mater. Int. 12, 50344 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  86. T.X. Nguyen, Y.-H. Su, C.-C. Lin, J. Ruan, J.-M. Ting, Adv. Sci. 8, 2002446 (2021)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  87. Y. Gao, Y. Mao, Z. Song, X. Zhao, J. Sun, W. Wang, G. Chen, S. Chen, Appl. Energy 279, 115777 (2020)

  88. H. Xu, Z. Zhang, J. Liu, C.-L. Do-Thanh, H. Chen, S. Xu, Q. Lin, Y. Jiao, J. Wang, Y. Wang, Y. Chen, S. Dai, Nat. Commun. 11, 3908 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  89. S. Zhai, J. Rojas, N. Ahlborg, K. Lim, M.F. Toney, H. Jin, W.C. Chueh, A. Majumdar, Energy Environ. Sci. 11, 2172 (2018)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  90. Y. Wei, M. Zhang, P. Wu, J. Luo, D. Tao, C. Peng, L. Dai, L. Wang, H. Li, W. Zhu, Appl. Surf. Sci. 529, 146980 (2020)

  91. F. Wang, X. Yan, T. Wang, Y. Wu, L. Shao, M. Nastasi, Y. Lu, B. Cui, Acta Mater. 195, 739 (2020)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors thank X. Campilongo, E. Zurek, W. Fahrenholtz, D. Wolfe, and D. Schlom for valuable discussions. Research sponsored by DOD-ONR (N00014-15-1-2863, N00014-21-1-2515) and NSF (DMR-1921909, DGE-2022040).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA

    Cormac Toher

  2. Center for Autonomous Materials Design, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Cormac Toher

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Center for Autonomous Materials Design, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Corey Oses, Marco Esters, David Hicks & Stefano Curtarolo

  4. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA

    George N. Kotsonis & Jon-Paul Maria

  5. Department of Physics and Astronomy, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, USA

    Christina M. Rost

  6. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Donald W. Brenner

Authors
  1. Cormac Toher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Corey Oses
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Marco Esters
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. David Hicks
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. George N. Kotsonis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Christina M. Rost
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Donald W. Brenner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Jon-Paul Maria
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Stefano Curtarolo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

The authors contributed equally to the article.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stefano Curtarolo.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Toher, C., Oses, C., Esters, M. et al. High-entropy ceramics: Propelling applications through disorder. MRS Bulletin 47, 194–202 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43577-022-00281-x

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/s43577-022-00281-x

Search

Navigation