A General Strategy for Bandgap Engineering Via Anion‐Lattice Doping in High‐Entropy Oxides
Bandgap engineering is a critical tool for tailoring the electronic properties of functional materials, traditionally achieved by modifying the cation sublattice. Here, a generalizable strategy is introduced that leverages facile anion-lattice doping in high entropy materials to modulate the bandgap in high-entropy metal oxides (HEMOs). By incorporating nitrogen into a single-phase high-entropy metal oxide/nitride (HEMO:HEMN) solid solution, a substantial bandgap reduction is achieved from 3.55 eV (HEMO) to ≈2.46 eV (HEMO:HEMN), significantly enhancing electronic conductivity. Unlike conventional bandgap tuning approaches that rely on cation substitution or heterojunction formation, this method exploits anion-mediated entropy stabilization, enabling uniform bandgap narrowing across the entire solid solution. This anion-lattice engineering strategy is broadly applicable to high-entropy systems, providing a new pathway for designing energy materials with tailored electronic properties. The resulting HEMO:HEMN solid solution exhibits a tenfold increase in capacitance and capacity compared to HEMO in supercapacitor and lithium-ion battery tests, demonstrating the transformative potential of anion-driven bandgap modulation for next-generation energy storage and conversion technologies.
Authors
- Kevin M. Siniard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0241-9705)
- Sheng Dai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8046-3931)
- Alexander S. Ivanov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8193-6673)
- Juntian Fan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8604-4474)
- Tao Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5004-160X)
- Meijia Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6113-7428)
- Qingju Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-7117-8751)
Institutions
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (US)
- Knoxville College (US)
- University of Tennessee at Knoxville (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Science
- Published
- 2025-06-19
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202505789
- Citations
- 7
- Primary Topic
- Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.54
Funders
- U.S. Department of Energy
- National Institute of Standards and Technology
- Office of Science
- Basic Energy Sciences
- Brookhaven National Laboratory