Disordered multicomponent systems, occupying the mostly uncharted centres of phase diagrams, were proposed in 2004 as innovative materials with promising applications. The idea was to maximize the configurational entropy to stabilize (near) equimolar mixtures and achieve more robust systems, which became known as high-entropy materials. Initial research focused mainly on metal alloys and nitride films. In 2015, entropy stabilization was demonstrated in a mixture of oxides. Other high-entropy disordered ceramics rapidly followed, stimulating the addition of more components to obtain materials expressing a blend of properties, often highly enhanced. The systems were soon proven to be useful in wide-ranging technologies, including thermal barrier coatings, thermoelectrics, catalysts, batteries and wear-resistant and corrosion-resistant coatings. In this Review, we discuss the current state of the disordered ceramics field by examining the applications and the high-entropy features fuelling them, covering both theoretical predictions and experimental results. The influence of entropy is unavoidable and can no longer be ignored. In the space of ceramics, it leads to new materials that, both as bulk and thin films, will play important roles in technology in the decades to come.

2004年提出了无序的多组分系统，这些相系统占据了相图的大部分中心，是具有广阔应用前景的创新材料。这个想法是使构型熵最大化，以稳定（接近）等摩尔混合物，并获得更坚固的系统，该系统被称为高熵材料。最初的研究主要集中在金属合金和氮化膜上。2015年，在氧化物混合物中证明了熵的稳定作用。随后，其他高熵无序陶瓷紧随其后，刺激了更多组分的添加，以获得表现出性能混合的材料，这些材料通常高度增强。该系统很快被证明可用于广泛的技术，包括热障涂层，热电，催化剂，电池以及耐磨和耐腐蚀涂层。在这篇综述中，我们通过检查应用和助燃它们的高熵特征，讨论了无序陶瓷领域的现状，涵盖了理论预测和实验结果。熵的影响是不可避免的，不能再忽略了。在陶瓷领域，它导致了新材料的出现，无论是块状还是薄膜状，都将在未来几十年中在技术中发挥重要作用。