Enhanced resistance to hydrogen embrittlement in a CrCoNi-based medium-entropy alloy via grain-boundary decoration of boron

oleh: X. H. Chen, X. Q. Zhuang, J. W. Mo, J. Y. He, T. Yang, X. Y. Zhou, W. H. Liu

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: Taylor & Francis Group 2022-04-01

Deskripsi

We found boron doping can substantially reduce the ductility-loss in the CrCoNi medium-entropy alloy after gas-hydrogen charging, from ∼71% to ∼46%, while the fracture mode transfers from predominantly intergranular to ductile transgranular dominated. The two alloys have no difference in phase-structures (single face-center-cubic), grain sizes, and grain-boundary (GB) characters. However, atom probe tomography identified apparent GB decoration of boron up to 1.5 at.% and nanometer-scaled scattered borides in boron-doped CrCoNi. Such local chemical difference leads to enhanced GB cohesion and reduced hydrogen diffusivity along GBs, resulting in improved immunity against hydrogen-embrittlement and suppressed mechanical degradation in the boron-doped CrCoNi alloy.