High‐entropy alloys (HEAs) have attracted considerable research interest owing to their outstanding properties; nevertheless, their potential application as protective coatings continues to be an area of ongoing investigation. In this work, HEA composite coatings of Al 17 Cr 10 Fe 35 Ni 36 Mo 2 + x TiB 2 ( x = 0, 10, 20, 30 wt.%) were fabricated on 304 stainless steels via laser cladding, and the effects of TiB 2 particles on microstructure, tribological behavior, and corrosion resistance of the coatings were systematically studied. It was found that the Al 17 Cr 10 Fe 35 Ni 36 Mo 2 coating is primarily composed of face‐centered cubic and B2 phases. With the incorporation of TiB 2 particles, the formation of a σ phase and a significantly refined microstructure was obtained, leading to a substantial enhancement in microhardness and wear resistance. Notably, the 30 wt.% TiB 2 ‐reinforced HEA coating exhibited an average hardness of 878.5 HV 0.1 and a wear rate of 3.250 × 10 −6 mm 3 N −1 m −1 , representing a 105.4% increase and a 97.48% reduction compared to the unreinforced HEA coating (414.4 HV 0.1 , 1.29 × 10 −4 mm 3 N −1 m −1 ). The wear mechanism transitioned from adhesive wear to a combination of abrasive wear and oxidative wear since the addition of TiB 2 particles. Furthermore, TiB 2 promoted the formation of Ti 2 O 3 and TiO 2 in the passive film, thereby improving the corrosion resistance of the HEA composite coatings.
Fan et al. (2026) studied this question.