Abstract
We demonstrate the systematic hardness enhancement of the CoCrFeNi high-entropy alloy (HEA) by the addition of tungsten carbide (WC). Mixed thin films are fabricated by magnetron co-sputtering using a home-made spark plasma-sintered CoCrFeNi target and a commercially available WC target. The WC content in the thin films is adjusted via the ratio of deposition powers applied to the targets. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) measurements were taken to determine the surface and bulk stoichiometry, respectively. The uniform distribution of the elements is confirmed via EDX mapping. X-ray diffraction (XRD) is carried out on the samples to determine the crystal phase formation. The Vickers hardness of the thin films is investigated using nanoindentation and shows an increase in the hardness in the thin films following an increased WC content. The data obtained are presented in comparison to pure WC and CoCrFeNi thin films fabricated by magnetron sputtering, respectively.
Highlights
Academic Editor: Alina VladescuIn the last two decades, a novel material system known as high-entropy alloys (HEAs) has gained increasing attention in the fields of material science and natural sciences
To verify that the sputtered thin films contain a sufficient quantity of the involved elements, the composition was determined via X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) measurements
EDX data were obtained in a setup without the possibility of pre-treatment, so the measured composition was expected to suffer from contaminations
Summary
Academic Editor: Alina VladescuIn the last two decades, a novel material system known as high-entropy alloys (HEAs) has gained increasing attention in the fields of material science and natural sciences. Several HEAs have already been reported to exhibit excellent mechanical properties regarding hardness [4,5,6], corrosion behaviour [7,8,9] or fracture and wear resistance [10,11]. Increasing their intrinsic hardness is the subject of various publications wherein the use of different fabrication methods has sought to combine HEAs and additional alloying elements [12,13,14,15]. As a material with high intrinsic hardness [16]
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