An oxidation resistant refractory high entropy alloy protected by CrTaO₄-based oxide

Although refractory high entropy alloys (RHEAs) have shown potentials to be developed as structural materials for elevated temperature applications, most of the reported oxidation behaviours of RHEA were associated with short term exposures for only up to 48 hours, and there is a lack of understanding on the oxidation mechanism of any RHEA to-date. In this work, by using thermogravimetric analysis, isothermal oxidation was conducted on a novel RHEA at 1000 °C and 1100 °C for up to 200 hours, which is an unprecedented testing duration. The external oxide layer strongly influenced the weight gain behaviours, and it consisted of CrTaO₄-based oxide with some dispersion of Al₂O₃ and Cr₂O₃. At 1000 °C, the inability to form dense CrTaO₄-based oxide layer resulted an exponential dependence of weight gain throughout 200 hours. At 1100 °C, mass gain curve showed two parabolic dependences associated with the formation of protective CrTaO₄-based oxide layer and the weight gain after 200 hours was 4.03 mg/cm², which indicates that it is one of the most oxidation resistant RHEAs comparing to literature data to-date. This work can also provide insights on how to further develop RHEA to withstand long term oxidation at elevated temperatures.