Expanding the Frontiers of Oxidation Catalysis with High-Entropy Material Catalysts

Abstract

Catalytic oxidation is essential in environmental protection, energy conversion, and chemical synthesis. However, conventional catalysts often suffer from limited active-site tunability and structural instability. High-entropy material (HEM) catalysts, composed of multiple principal elements (≥ 5), offer a promising solution by integrating high configurational entropy, lattice distortion, and multi-element synergy. These features stabilize complex phases under oxidative conditions, enrich active sites, and enable flexible electronic and structural modulation to optimize oxidation pathways. This review systematically summarizes key oxidation applications and reaction mechanisms, critically examines the limitations of traditional catalyst systems, and highlights the distinctive physicochemical features of HEM catalysts. Particular emphasis is placed on recent advances in synthesis strategies, including solvothermal, carbothermal, combustion, and templated approaches, which have enabled precise control over composition, structure, and nanoscale architecture, thereby expanding the design space of HEM catalysts. On this basis, recent progress in applying HEM catalysts to pollutant degradation, energy-related oxidation reactions, and selective organic transformations is comprehensively evaluated. Finally, current challenges and future opportunities are discussed, with an emphasis on feasible routes toward the rational design of efficient, stable, and scalable oxidation catalysts. By integrating concepts from materials chemistry and catalysis, this review provides a unified framework linking high-entropy materials with oxidation catalysis and offers forward-looking guidance for the development of next-generation catalysts for Green Chem and sustainable energy technologies.