A novel High-Entropy Alloy-based composite material

Abstract This study reports the results of the addition of different reinforcing agents ( i.e. nano-diamonds, SiC, Sc 2 O 3 , h -BN, c -BN and CN) on the sintering process of the B2 -structured Al 2 CoCrFeNi High-Entropy Alloy. The best candidate for further thermal, electrical and mechanical characterization was chosen to be the alloy containing 2 wt% nano-diamonds. The composite was prepared using spark-plasma sintering of pre-alloyed powders and characterized with SEM-EDX, DSC, Laser Flash Analysis (LFA), electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient, dilatometry, Young's modulus, Vicker's hardness, 3-points flexural test. It shows unexpectedly low thermal expansion coefficient (from 3 × 10 −6 to 17 × 10 −6  K −1 between RT and 500 °C), high electrical resistivity and Seebeck coefficient and hardness comparable to the sintered blank Al 2 CoCrFeNi.