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There has been growing interest in the high-entropy ceramic (HEC) recently owing to its tailorable compositions and microstructures, versatile properties, together with promising structural and functional applications. However, inferior fracture toughness (KIC) and damage tolerance restricted many practical applications of the HEC. Herein, we addressed this challenge by incorporating a three-dimensional graphene–carbon nanotube (3D G–CNT) as toughening agent in (Hf0.2Nb0.2Ta0.2Ti0.2Zr0.2)C. The resulting enhanced 3D G–CNT/(Hf0.2Nb0.2Ta0.2Ti0.2Zr0.2)C featured an outstanding toughness of 8.23 MPa·m1/2, while remaining superior strength (763 MPa) and hardness (24.7 GPa). An ultralow friction coefficient (0.15) coupled with an ultralow wear rate (w, 2.6×10−7 mm3/(N·m)) in the 3D G–CNT/(Hf0.2Nb0.2Ta0.2Ti0.2Zr0.2)C was obtained primarily as a function of lubricating scrolls, in which two-dimensional (2D) graphene acted as a tribolayer, and one-dimensional (1D) carbon nanotubes acted as nano ball bearings embedded inside. Strikingly, the 3D G–CNT/(Hf0.2Nb0.2Ta0.2Ti0.2Zr0.2)C exhibited rather low thermal conductivity (κ) yet excellent electrical conductivity (σ, 1.3×106 S/m) in comparison with the pure (Hf0.2Nb0.2Ta0.2Ti0.2Zr0.2)C. This study provided great potential for maximizing the physical and functional properties of the HEC for various applications.


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High-performance multifunctional (Hf0.2Nb0.2Ta0.2Ti0.2Zr0.2)C high-entropy ceramic reinforced with low-loading 3D hybrid graphene–carbon nanotube

Show Author's information Jialin Suna,b( )Jun ZhaocYonghui ZhoucPeng ZhaiaXialun YundZhifu HuangbHui ZhangeGuohua Zhangf
School of Mechanical, Electrical & Information Engineering, Shandong University (Weihai), Weihai 264209, China
State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Key Laboratory of High Efficiency and Clean Mechanical Manufacture of Ministry of Education, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China
State Key Laboratory for Manufacturing System Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200050, China
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Metallurgy, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China

Abstract

There has been growing interest in the high-entropy ceramic (HEC) recently owing to its tailorable compositions and microstructures, versatile properties, together with promising structural and functional applications. However, inferior fracture toughness (KIC) and damage tolerance restricted many practical applications of the HEC. Herein, we addressed this challenge by incorporating a three-dimensional graphene–carbon nanotube (3D G–CNT) as toughening agent in (Hf0.2Nb0.2Ta0.2Ti0.2Zr0.2)C. The resulting enhanced 3D G–CNT/(Hf0.2Nb0.2Ta0.2Ti0.2Zr0.2)C featured an outstanding toughness of 8.23 MPa·m1/2, while remaining superior strength (763 MPa) and hardness (24.7 GPa). An ultralow friction coefficient (0.15) coupled with an ultralow wear rate (w, 2.6×10−7 mm3/(N·m)) in the 3D G–CNT/(Hf0.2Nb0.2Ta0.2Ti0.2Zr0.2)C was obtained primarily as a function of lubricating scrolls, in which two-dimensional (2D) graphene acted as a tribolayer, and one-dimensional (1D) carbon nanotubes acted as nano ball bearings embedded inside. Strikingly, the 3D G–CNT/(Hf0.2Nb0.2Ta0.2Ti0.2Zr0.2)C exhibited rather low thermal conductivity (κ) yet excellent electrical conductivity (σ, 1.3×106 S/m) in comparison with the pure (Hf0.2Nb0.2Ta0.2Ti0.2Zr0.2)C. This study provided great potential for maximizing the physical and functional properties of the HEC for various applications.

Keywords: high-entropy ceramic (HEC), three-dimensional graphene–carbon nanotube (3D G–CNT), toughening, lubricating, thermal conductivity (κ)/electrical conductivity (σ)

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Publication history

Received: 02 September 2022
Revised: 09 October 2022
Accepted: 31 October 2022
Published: 06 January 2023
Issue date: February 2023

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© The Author(s) 2022.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52005396), Young Talent Fund of University Association for Science and Technology in Shaanxi (No. 20210414), and Qilu Youth Scholar Project Funding of Shandong University (No. 1050522300003).

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