Selective Hydride Interstitials Induced in a High-Entropy Lanthanide Oxyhydride

Abstract

High-entropy materials have gained significant interest in many applications, but structural investigations of the effect on anions in the crystal structure are still scarce. Here, we study the effect of multicomponent cation disorder in the case of mixed-anion compounds. The distribution of mixed anions among various coordination sites is important given their implications for properties such as ionic conductivity and bulk diffusion in catalysis. Structural analysis in the fluorite-type (La,Ce,Pr,Nd,Y)H_1.5O_0.75 reveals that the disordered cationic effects create new interstitial sites, occupied selectively by hydride despite oxide and hydride disorder in other compositions and sites. In contrast, single-lanthanide oxyhydrides of analogous anion content, such as LaH_1.5O_0.75, or SmH₂O_0.5 lack the complex interstitial structure. Hydride ion conductivity measurements and bond valence sum energy maps show a considerably low activation energy of hydride migration due to the additional interstitial sites induced by high entropy. Such interstitials can be crucial in applications that involve hydride ion diffusion, such as ammonia synthesis catalysis and solid-state ionics, as further high-entropy compositions are explored.