Alloying-Enabled Phase Selection and Twin-Mediated Plasticity for Ultrahigh Wear Resistance in Nanocrystalline FeCoNiTi Coatings.

Wang, Yihao; Zhao, Dechao; Chen, Ming; Wang, Li; Liang, Xiaopeng; Liu, Yujing; Guo, Youjie; Cui, Hongzhi et al. · Nano Lett · 2026

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Achieving ultrahigh wear-resistance in structural coatings requires integrating high intrinsic strength with the ability to sustain plastic deformation. Here, we report a dual-phase nanocrystalline FeCoNiTi multiprincipal element alloy (MPEA) coating that attains a high yield strength of 3.3 GPa, a strain-hardening rate of 9.21 GPa, and an ultralow wear rate of 1.1 × 10<sup>-6</sup> mm<sup>3</sup>/(N·m), surpassing most reported MPEA coatings. The coating is synthesized via rapid electrical-current-activated sintering, during which amorphized FeCoNiTi powders crystallize into a uniform fine-grained FCC matrix (∼32.5 nm) with ∼40 vol % ordered coherent L1<sub>2</sub> nanoprecipitates. Addition of Ti promotes compositional segregation and L1<sub>2</sub> phase formation, which facilitates twinning-induced plasticity and enhances strain hardening. The in situ formation of a TiO<sub>2</sub> tribo-film also provides a lubrication effect. Furthermore, the twin-mediated deformation suppresses strain localization and grain boundary sliding. This work establishes a rapid and robust pathway for designing high-performance antiwear coatings through alloying-driven phase selection and defect engineering.