High-Throughput Screening Solar-Thermal Conversion Films in a Pseudobinary (Cr, Fe, V)-(Ta, W) System

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Thin Film Deposition

Background:

• High-entropy films (HEFs) are advanced materials with unique properties.
• Photothermal conversion materials are crucial for solar energy applications.
• Combinatorial strategies accelerate materials discovery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the structural and property variations in (Cr, Fe, V)-(Ta, W) HEFs.
• To identify HEFs with high solar absorptivity for photothermal applications.
• To demonstrate an efficient combinatorial technique for HEF discovery.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a compositional library of (Cr0.33Fe0.33V0.33)x(Ta0.5W0.5)100-x HEFs using cosputtering.
• Systematic characterization of film structure (amorphous vs. BCC) and solar absorptivity across the compositional range.
• Correlation of atomic content with observed microstructural and optical properties.

Main Results:

• Films exhibited an amorphous structure for x values between 86.9 and 32.5.
• A Body-Centered Cubic (BCC) structure formed at higher concentrations of Tantalum (Ta) and Tungsten (W).
• Peak solar absorptivity was observed at the amorphous-to-BCC structural transition zone.

Conclusions:

• The study successfully identified a compositional range for high-performance HEFs.
• The findings highlight the importance of structural phase transitions for optimizing photothermal properties.
• An efficient combinatorial approach was validated for discovering novel HEFs.