Solid-State Processing of CoCrMoNbTi High-Entropy Alloy for Biomedical Applications

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) gained interest in the field of biomedical applications due to their unique effects and to the combination of the properties of the constituent elements. In addition to the required property of biocompatibility, other requirements include properties such as mechanical resistance, bioactivity, sterility, stability, cost effectiveness, etc. For this paper, a biocompatible high-entropy alloy, defined as bio-HEA by the literature, can be considered as an alternative to the market-available materials due to their superior properties. According to the calculation of the valence electron concentration, a majority of body-centered cubic (BCC) phases were expected, resulting in properties such as high strength and plasticity for the studied alloy, confirmed by the XRD analysis. The tetragonal (TVC) phase was also identified, indicating that the presence of face-centered cubic (FCC) phases in the alloyed materials resulted in high ductility. Microstructural and compositional analyses revealed refined and uniform metallic powder particles, with a homogeneous distribution of the elemental particles observed from the mapping analyses, indicating that alloying had occurred. The technological characterization of the high-entropy alloy-elaborated powder revealed the particle dimension reduction due to the welding and fracturing process that occurs during mechanical alloying, with a calculated average particle size of 45.12 mu m.

Automated summary

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) have gained interest in biomedical applications due to their unique effects and combination of constituent properties. A biocompatible HEA, known as bio-HEA, is considered as an alternative to market-available materials due to its superior properties. The alloy exhibits high strength and plasticity, with the presence of face-centered cubic phases contributing to high ductility. Microstructural and compositional analyses confirmed alloying had occurred, resulting in refined metallic powder particles with homogenous elemental distribution. Technological characterization revealed particle dimension reduction in the high-entropy alloy-elaborated powder.