Metal-carbide eutectics with multiprincipal elements make superrefractory alloys

Materials with excellent high-temperature strength are now sought for applications in hypersonics, fusion reactors, and aerospace technologies. Conventional alloys and eutectic multiprincipal- element alloys (MPEAs) exhibit insufficient strengths at high temperatures due to low melting points and microstructural instabilities. Here, we report a strategy to achieve exceptional high-temperature microstructural stability and strength by introducing eutectic carbide in a refractory MPEA. The synergistic strengthening effects from the multiprincipal-element mixing and strong dislocation blocking at the interwoven metal-carbide interface make the eutectic MPEA not only have outstanding high-temperature strength (>2 GPa at 1473 K) but also alleviate the room-temperature brittleness through microcrack tip blunting by layered metallic phase. This strategy offers a paradigm for the design of the next-generation high-temperature materials to bypass the low-melting point limitation of eutectic alloys and diffusion-dominated softening in conventional superalloys.

Automated summary

This study reports a strategy to achieve exceptional high-temperature microstructural stability and strength by introducing eutectic carbide in a refractory multiprincipal-element alloy (MPEA). The eutectic MPEA has outstanding high-temperature strength and alleviates room-temperature brittleness through microcrack tip blunting. This offers a new paradigm for the design of next-generation high-temperature materials.