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Boronizing treatment has been considered as a promising strategy to enhance the surface hardness, self-lubrication and wear resistance of high entropy alloy (HEA), endowing the advancements of HEA in engineering applications. However, the anti-friction, anti-wear and corrosion resistance properties of the boronized HEA in sulfuric acid and seawater environments remain unclear. Here, the self-lubrication and corrosion resistance of the boronized CoCrFeNiMn HEA in these corrosive media were studied to assess the applicable environments. Firstly, a boronized layer with thickness of approximately 25 μm on the CoCrFeNiMn HEA surface was fabricated using the powder-pack boronizing treatment. Tribological assessments demonstrated exceptional self-lubricating properties of boronized HEA in various liquid conditions, with over 30 % reduced friction coefficients and over 80 % decreased wear rates. XPS analysis confirmed the formation of a boron-containing tribofilm, enhancing self-lubrication and reducing friction and wear in liquid environments. However, electrochemical tests indicated that the corrosion resistance of the boronized HEA was significantly affected by the liquid medium. The impedance value (|Z|) of boronized HEA decreased to 4.6 % of that of the original HEA in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution, revealing poor corrosion resistance. Conversely, an enhancement of corrosion resistance was observed in 0.05 M H 2 SO 4 solutions with the increase of the |Z| value by 8 times. Therefore, for applications requiring service safety, boronizing HEAs are more suitable for acidic environments, but not in seawater environments, offering valuable insights for the industrial application of CoCrFeNiMn HEA in reducing friction and wear. • The COF of boronized HEA is over 30 % lower than original HEA in liquid conditions. • The tribofilm (composed of H 3 BO 3 and B 2 O 3) significantly reduce friction and wear. • Boronized HEAs are more suitable for acidic environments, but not in seawater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The CoCrNi medium-entropy alloy (MEA) exhibits an impressive ductility, but its low hardness (∼352 HV) and poor wear resistance limit its engineering applications. In this study, a significant increase of surface hardness and enhancement of self-lubrication were achieved for the CoCrNi MEA using powder-pack boronizing. Results indicate that dual reaction layers with a total thickness of about 50 μm were formed on the surface. These two strengthened layers are mainly consisted of silicide (Ni 2 Si) and borides (CoB, Cr 5 B 3). The hardness of the affected region reaches to 11–21 GPa dependence on the cross-sectional depth, being about 6 times higher than that of untreated MEA. In the deionized water condition, the friction and wear rate reductions of the boronizing treated specimen reach to about 25% and 63%, respectively. Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) analysis on the wear scars showed that a silicon/boron-containing tribofilm was formed under the water environment, which reduces the friction coefficient and enhances the wear resistance. Our study demonstrates that powder-pack boronizing is a powerful way to enhance surface hardness and self-lubrication properties of CoCrNi MEA. • Double-strengthened layers were observed on the boronized CoCrNi alloy surface. • An obvious improvement of surface hardness was obtained. • The self-lubrication performance of boronized CoCrNi MEAs in the water is excellent. • The self-lubrication enhancement was due to the formation of silicon-boron based tribofilm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wear behaviors of γ-TiAl alloy with two typical microstructures, i.e., the lamellar colony microstructure (denoted as the HIPed sample) and the fine equiaxed microstructure (denoted as the heat-treated sample), were thoroughly studied during dry sliding test to resolve the microstructural feature dependence of wear mechanisms. Special efforts have been made to the subsurface stability during sliding by using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) techniques. It is demonstrated that both cases present a similarity in the friction coefficients but a disparity in the wear loss. The lower wear loss was achieved in the case of HIPed sample. This can be attributed to the various directions in the local strain induced by plastic deformation during sliding, the crystallographic structure and the coherent interface in the lamellar colony, leading to high resistance ability to the wear. For the case of heat-treated sample, the high plastic deformation ability in the α 2 grains along the surface and the equiaxed morphology generate to high ability to plastic deformation and sliding during friction, contributing to the high wear loss. However, the heat-treated sample presents a high subsurface structure stability according to the local misorientation analysis. The present results provide new information on wear mechanisms of γ-TiAl alloy and may offer a method to enhance its wear resistance by tailoring the microstructural features. • The wear loss in a dry sliding of a γ-TiAl alloy is evidenced to connect with microstructural feature. • Special efforts have been made to the subsurface stability during sliding by using EBSD techniques. • The lower wear loss was achieved in the case of the lamellar colony microstructure. • The fine globular microstructure presents a high subsurface structure stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]