J. Mater. Sci. Technol. ›› 2026, Vol. 255: 226-235.DOI: 10.1016/j.jmst.2025.08.031

• Research Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Configurational disorder engineering in entropy-increasing conjugated polymers boosts photocatalytic performance

Chaohui Suna,b,1, Shuhan Sunb,1, Xianghua Zengc,*, Yanting Tianb, Hong Sunb, Haili Jiaob, Song Wangd, Shixiong Lianga,*, Zhanfeng Lib,*, Yue Tiane,*, Xianqiang Xiongf,*   

  1. aSchool of Microelectronics, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China;
    bKey Laboratory of Advanced Transducers and Intelligent Control System, Ministry of Education, College of Physics and Optoelectronics, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China;
    cKey Laboratory of Optic-Electric Sensing and Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, MOE, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Qingdao University of Science & Technology, Qingdao 266042, China;
    dHubei Key Lab Low Dimens Optoelect Mat & Devices, Hubei University of Arts and Science, Xiangyang 441053, China;
    eSchool of Marine Science and Engineering, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China;
    fZhejiang Key Laboratory of New Drug Development for Central Nervous System Diseases, Taizhou University, Jiaojiang 318000, China
  • Received:2025-05-11 Revised:2025-07-20 Accepted:2025-08-17 Published:2026-06-01 Online:2025-09-07
  • Contact: * E-mail addresses: zengxianghua@qust.edu.cn (X. Zeng), lsx0311@tju.edu.cn (S. Liang), lizhanfeng@tyut.edu.cn (Z. Li), tianyue@hainanu.edu.cn (Y. Tian), 11337061@zju.edu.cn (X. Xiong) .
  • About author:1These authors contributed equally to this work.

Abstract: High-entropy polymers (HEPs) represent a transformative approach to overcoming the intrinsic limitations of conjugated polymer photocatalysts through deliberate configurational disorder engineering. The designed high-entropy conjugated polymer Py-CNTh demonstrates exceptional photocatalytic performance, achieving hydrogen evolution and H2O2 production rates of 248.34 and 15.55 µmol h-1, respectively—representing 8.8 and 43-fold enhancements over conventional counterparts (Py-Th). Comprehensive characterization reveals that entropy-driven structural disorder induces synergistic optoelectronic enhancements, as evidenced by a 33% reduction in exciton binding energy and a prolonged carrier lifetime of 919 ps, both of which contribute to significantly improved charge separation efficiency. The high-entropy architecture further strengthens interfacial processes through enhanced built-in electric fields and improved hydrophilicity. Systematic studies across an entropy increase establish a direct correlation between configurational disorder and photocatalytic performance, highlighting the critical role of entropy in optimizing charge transport and surface reactivity simultaneously. This work establishes high-entropy engineering as a general design principle for advanced polymeric photocatalysts, offering new opportunities for solar energy conversion applications.

Key words: High-entropy conjugated polymer, Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, Photocatalyst, Donor-acceptor, Skeletal randomization strategy