Novel Co-rich high entropy alloys with superior tensile properties

We developed a series of Co-rich CoxCr25(FeNi)75−x (x = 35, 45, 55, 65) high entropy alloys with improved strength and/or ductility, derived from lowering the stacking fault energy (SFE) and reducing the fcc phase stability of the equiatomic CoCrFeNi alloy. Thermodynamics and ab initio calculations demonstrated that increasing Co while decreasing Fe and Ni concentrations lower the SFE and reduce the fcc phase stability. The Co35Cr25Fe20Ni20 and Co45Cr25Fe15Ni15 alloys with single fcc phase, exhibit superior tensile properties, contributing to the twinning and fcc → hcp martensitic transformation. The present study offers a guideline for designing high-performance high entropy alloys.