High-Entropy CeNbO_4+δ-Based Ceramics with Ultrahigh Comprehensive Thermosensitive Performances

Next-generation advanced high-temperature sensors rely heavily on negative temperature coefficient thermosensitive ceramics with low cost, small volume, high sensitivity, and fast response. However, thus far, the enormous challenge of achieving ultrahigh stability and accuracy has become a critical bottleneck restricting the development of thermosensitive ceramics in high-temperature sensor applications. Here, we propose a high-entropy strategy to design a “cation valence self-equilibrium” system in CeNbO_4+δ-based ceramics introducing redox couple compensation and ultrahigh density dislocations to solve the problem of temperature-dependent oxygen nonstoichiometry that restricts the performances of high-temperature thermosensitive ceramics. Ferroelastic domains are generated by enhancing the configurational entropy at both A and B sites, resulting in a dramatic increase of dislocation density to >10¹⁰ mm^-2, which ultimately optimizes the thermosensitive performances. Extreme temperature measurement accuracy with R² as high as 999.98‰ and RSS as low as 0.011 and high-temperature stability with ΔR/R₀ as low as 0.23% after aging at 873 K for 1000 h are realized in high-entropy CeNbO_4+δ-based ceramics, indicating a breakthrough in the comprehensive performances of thermosensitive ceramics. This work opens up an effective way to design thermosensitive materials with ultrahigh comprehensive performance to meet the requirements of advanced high-temperature sensors.