A strong and ductile medium-entropy alloy resists hydrogen embrittlement and corrosion.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 32555177.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-020-16791-8 and PMC identifier 7299985.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Strong and ductile materials that have high resistance to corrosion and hydrogen embrittlement are rare and yet essential for realizing safety-critical energy infrastructures, hydrogen-based industries, and transportation solutions. Here we report how we reconcile these constraints in the form of a strong and ductile CoNiV medium-entropy alloy with face-centered cubic structure. It shows high resistance to hydrogen embrittlement at ambient temperature at a strain rate of 10-4 s-1, due to its low hydrogen diffusivity and the deformation twinning that impedes crack propagation. Moreover, a dense oxide film formed on the alloy's surface reduces the hydrogen uptake rate, and provides high corrosion resistance in dilute sulfuric acid with a corrosion current density below 7 μA cm-2. The combination of load carrying capacity and resistance to harsh environmental conditions may qualify this multi-component alloy as a potential candidate material for sustainable and safe infrastructures and devices.