Low-temperature densification of high-entropy(Ti,Zr,Nb,Ta,Mo)C-Co composites with high hardness and high toughness

In order to prepare high toughness(Ti,Zr,Nb,Ta,Mo)C ceramics at low temperatures while maintaining high hardness,a liquid-phase sintering process combined with Co-based liquid-phase extrusion strategy was adopted in this study.The densification temperature can be lowered to 1350℃,which is much lower than the solid-state sintering temperature(~2000℃)generally employed for high-entropy carbide ceramics.When sintered at 1550℃and 30 MPa applied pressure,part of the Co-based liquid-phase was squeezed out of the graphite mold,such that only~3.21 vol%of Co remained in the high-entropy ceramic.Compared to the Co-free solid-state sintered(Ti,Zr,Nb,Ta,Mo)C ceramics,prepared at 2000℃and 35 MPa,the hardness was slightly decreased from 25.06±0.32 to 24.11±0.75 GPa,but the toughness was increased from 2.25±0.22 to 4.07±0.13 MPa·m^(1/2).This work provides a new strategy for low-temperature densification of high-entropy carbides with both high hardness and high toughness.

Textured and toughened high-entropy(Ti_(0.2)Zr_(0.2)Hf_(0.2)Nb_(0.2)Ta_(0.2))C-SiCw ceramics

High-entropy(Ti_(0.2)Zr_(0.2)Hf_(0.2)Nb_(0.2)Ta_(0.2))C ceramics,with different contents(0,5,10,and 20 vol.%)of Si C whiskers(SiCw),were fabricated by spark plasma sintering using raw powders synthesized via carbothermal reduction.The application of a uniaxial compaction force led to texture development of the SiCw within the(Ti_(0.2)Zr_(0.2)Hf_(0.2)Nb_(0.2)Ta_(0.2))C matrix.Fracture toughness increased with the increase in SiCw content,while Vickers hardness remains almost unchanged.The toughness of(Ti_(0.2)Zr_(0.2)Hf_(0.2)Nb_(0.2)Ta_(0.2))C-20 vol.%SiCw ceramics reached 4.3±0.3 MPa m^(1/2),which was approximately 43%higher than that of the monolithic(Ti_(0.2)Zr_(0.2)Hf_(0.2)Nb_(0.2)Ta_(0.2))C ceramic(3.0±0.2 MPa m1/2).The main toughening mechanisms were attributed to crack deflection,whisker debonding,and whisker pullout.