Electrochemical deposition and microstructural characterization of AlCrFeMnNi and AlCrCuFeMnNi high entropy alloy thin films

Al-Cr-Fe-Mn-Ni and Al-Cr-Cu-Fe-Mn-Ni high entropy alloy thin films were prepared by potentiostatic electrodeposition and the microstructure of the deposits was investigated. The thin films were co-deposited in an electrolyte based on a DMF (N,N-dimethylformamide)-CH3CN (acetonitrile) organic compound. The energy dispersive spectrometry investigation (EDS) indicated that all the five respectively six elements were successfully co-deposited. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis revealed that the film consists of compact and uniform particles with particle sizes of 500 nm to 4 μm. The X-ray diffractometry (XRD) patterns indicated that the as-deposited thin films were amorphous. Body-centered-cubic (BCC) structures were identified by XRD after the films were annealed at various temperatures under inert Ar atmosphere. The alloys adhesion on the substrate was determined by the scratch-testing method, with higher values obtained for the Al-Cr-Cu-Fe-Mn-Ni alloy.