Influence of Al addition on the microstructure and properties of Fe₂₅Co₂₅Ni₂₅(Si_0.3B_0.7)₂₅ high entropy metallic glass

This research work was focused on the development of a new series of high entropy metallic glasses (HE-MGs) combined with higher thermal stability, acceptable soft magnetic property, microhardness and good corrosion resistance by adding various Al content (1–8 at.%) on the basis of Fe₂₅Co₂₅Ni₂₅(Si_0·3B_0.7)₂₅ high entropy metallic glass using single-roller melt-spinning approach. It is found that the proper addition of Al can efficiently improve the anti-corrosion performance of high entropy metallic glasses, in particular, the corrosion current density is decreased from 7.61 μA/cm² and 9.26 μA/cm² for the 1 at.% and 2 at.% Al-added alloys to 5.11 μA/cm² for the 5 at.% Al-added alloy. However, the improvement of Al content could deteriorate the soft magnetic property and thermal stability of HE-MGs. The saturation magnetization flux density and onset crystallization temperature reduce from 0.85 T to 766.15 K for the 1 at.% Al-added alloy to 0.53 T and 736.75 K for the 8 at.% Al-added alloy. Besides, the Vickers’ microhardness of all investigated alloy ribbons can reach 1124 HV_0.2 or above. Therefore, this kind of senary new-type HE-MGs can be used as a promising magnetic shielding metal material with high hardness, superior thermal stability and good anti-corrosion performance for the surface protection of key component in harsh marine corrosive environment.