Microstructures, high-temperature tribological and electrochemical mechanisms of FeCoNiCrAl high-entropy alloy coating prepared by laser cladding on a copper alloy: Combined TEM and DFT calculation

Two layers of FeCoNiCrAl coatings were prepared on copper (Cu) alloys substrates in this paper in order to improve the wear and corrosion performance of Cu alloys and to reduce the dilution of Cu in the laser cladding (LC) process. The microstructures, phase composition, microhardness, and crystal structure of the resulting coatings were analyzed, and their high-temperature tribological and electrochemical properties were tested. The results show that the surface of the HEA coatings still consists of a single-phase body-centered cubic (BCC) with low Cu content, and no generation of a second phase was observed. Compared with the substrate, the FeCoNiCrAl HEA coatings have better wear resistance, with oxidative wear and slight adhesive wear as the wear mechanism at 250 ℃. In addition, the FeCoNiCrAl HEA coating showed better electrochemical corrosion performance in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution. The corrosion mechanism is that the dense oxide layers inhibit the erosion of Cl- and high reaction barriers slow down electrochemical reactions. [Display omitted] •FeCoNiCrAl coatings form the metallurgical bond with the Cu alloy substrate.•Double-layers HEA coatings effectively reduce the dilution of Cu alloys during LC.•The wear mechanism of the coating is abrasive wear, oxidative wear and slight adhesive wear.•The high corrosion resistance is attributed to the dense oxide layers and high reaction barriers.