High-entropy pyrochlore a2b2o7 with both heavy and light rare-earth elements at the a site

Abstract

A novel class of high-entropy pyrochlore ceramics (HEPCs) with multiple heavy and light rare-earth elements at the A site were successfully synthesized via solid-state reaction. Both the XRD patterns and Raman spectroscopy demonstrated the single pyrochlore structure feature of seven kinds of HEPCs. Electron microscopic images revealed the typical morphology and the homogene-ous distribution of all rare-earth elements. It can be concluded that the significance of configuration entropy in the HEPC system has promoted the tervalent lanthanide nuclides to form a single pyro-chlore structure. This work is expected to provide guidance for the further design of high-entropy pyrochlore/fluorite ceramics.