DOI

Chemical interaction and changes in local electronic structure of Cr, Fe, Co, Ni and Cu transition metals (TMs) upon formation of an Al 8Co 17Cr 17Cu 8Fe 17Ni 33 compositionally complex alloy (CCA) have been studied by X-ray absorption spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It was found that upon CCA formation, occupancy of the Cr, Co and Ni 3d states changes and the maximum of the occupied and empty Ni 3d states density shifts away from Fermi level (E f) by 0.5 and 0.6 eV, respectively, whereas the Cr 3d empty states maximum shifts towards E f by 0.3 eV, compared to the corresponding pure metals. The absence of significant charge transfer between the elements was established, pointing to the balancing of the 3d states occupancy change by involvement of delocalized 4s and 4p states into the charge redistribution. Despite the expected formation of strong Al–TMs covalent bonds, the Al role in the transformation of the TMs 3d electronic states is negligible. The work demonstrates a decisive role of Cr in the Ni local electronic structure transformation and suggests formation of directional Ni–Cr bonds with covalent character. These findings can be helpful for tuning deformation properties and phase stability of the CCA.

Original languageEnglish
Article number157597
JournalJournal of Alloys and Compounds
Volume857
Early online date14 Oct 2020
DOIs
StatePublished - 15 Mar 2021

    Research areas

  • Chemical bonding, Compositionally complex alloys, Electronic structure, High-entropy alloys, X-ray spectroscopy

    Scopus subject areas

  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Metals and Alloys
  • Materials Chemistry

ID: 69911665