Reversible solid oxide cells (RSOCs) are regarded as core devices for efficient clean energy conversion, capable of switching between power generation and hydrogen production. Traditional perovskite cathodes represented by LSCF have been widely applied in this field, yet they face two critical bottlenecks. Their inherent electrocatalytic activity fails to meet the demands of mid-temperature operation, and alkaline earth metal components are vulnerable to corrosion and performance degradation in CO2 rich environments. These defects severely limit the service life and large-scale commercial promotion of RSOCs, making the development of high-activity and CO2 resistant cathode materials an urgent research focus across the industry.
To address the above challenges, the joint team from Changchun University of Technology and University of South China proposed a temperature-modulated high-entropy perovskite strategy. The researchers adopted a sol-gel method to synthesize the target HELSCF material. By precisely controlling calcination temperatures at 1000 °C and 1100 °C, two distinct crystal phases were obtained: asymmetric orthorhombic HELSCF-Pbnm and symmetric cubic HELSCF-Pm3m. A series of structural characterization and electrochemical tests were carried out to explore the structure-activity relationship. Meanwhile, density functional theory calculations were combined to reveal the internal mechanism of lattice distortion on catalytic performance.
"Temperature regulation is a simple and effective way to tune material structures," said the corresponding researcher in charge of the project. "The high-entropy design optimizes the lattice structure and oxygen vacancy concentration of perovskites, which fundamentally improves both catalytic activity and CO2 resistant ability."
The team published their work in Journal of Advanced Ceramics on June 8, 2026.
Multiple comparative experiments fully verified the superior performance of the new material. At 750 °C, HELSCF-Pbnm delivers an ultra-low area-specific resistance of 0.040 Ω·cm2. Its maximum power density reaches 1.38 W·cm-2, nearly 1.7 times that of conventional LSCF. Long-term stability tests show the cathode works steadily for more than 260 hours at 600 °C. In CO2 atmosphere tests, its performance attenuation rate is only 12.7%, far lower than 35.9% of LSCF. Characterizations confirm that the unique lattice distortion of the orthorhombic phase increases oxygen vacancies and optimizes electronic structure, realizing excellent bifunctional activity for oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution reactions.
This innovative technical route breaks through the performance limitations of traditional cathodes. The temperature-modulated high-entropy perovskite material features simple preparation, outstanding comprehensive performance and strong environmental adaptability. It not only provides a reliable new choice for high-performance RSOC cathodes but also offers a universal design idea for developing advanced electrode materials. With the rapid development of new energy industry, this technology has broad application potential in distributed power stations, energy storage systems and industrial hydrogen production, and is expected to accelerate the large-scale application of reversible solid oxide cell technology.
Other contributors include Yinlin Chang, Haocong Wang, Wenwen Zhang and Defeng Zhou from different research institutions in China.
About Author
Jinghe Bai is a lecturer and master's supervisor at Changchun University of Technology, China. He has long been engaged in research on electrodes and electrolytes for solid oxide fuel cells, with a focus on optimizing perovskite oxides as electrocatalysts.
Funding
This work was supported by the Education Department of Jilin Province Foundation (No. JJKH20261303KJ), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 22479072), and the Open Project of the State Key Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Preparative Chemistry (No. 2024-15).
DOI Link:
https://doi.org/10.26599/JAC.2026.9221315
About Journal of Advanced Ceramics
Journal of Advanced Ceramics (JAC) is an international academic journal that presents the state-of-the-art results of theoretical and experimental studies on the processing, structure, and properties of advanced ceramics and ceramic-based composites. JAC is Fully Open Access, monthly published by Tsinghua University Press, and exclusively available via SciOpen . JAC's 2024 IF is 16.6, ranking in Top 1 (1/34, Q1) among all journals in "Materials Science, Ceramics" category, and its 2024 CiteScore is 25.9 (5/130) in Scopus database. ResearchGate homepage: https://www.researchgate.net/journal/Journal-of-Advanced-Ceramics-2227-8508
