Abrasion and fragmentation related attrition has been deemed as one of the major design challenges for the development of oxygen carriers for chemical looping process concepts and their implementation. Since the technology seeks to replace conventional power generation, oxygen carrier lifetime is a critical parameter as it can impact the potential competitive nature for the implementation of the process concept. In this study, attrition propensity is examined for two novel carrier materials CuFeAlO4 and CuFe1.5Al0.5O4 in a bench scale fluidized bed reactor unit under reacting conditions. Bench scale outcomes were compared to attrition outcomes from a sub pilot operation to determine comparability of scale. Routes by which attrition performance can be improved arc proposed and validated through examining the solid-state chemistry of the carrier system and evaluation method. The study suggests that material structure, maturation and microstructure can play a major role in physical attrition propensity. Published by Elsevier B.V.