WC-based Cemented Carbides with Nanostructured NiFeCrWMo High-Entropy Alloy Binder

In the present work, high-density WC-based cemented carbide with a nanostructured FeCrNiWMo high-entropy alloy (HEA) binder was obtained by electron-beam sintering. X-ray diffraction and microstructural analysis showed the absence of WC and FeCrNiWMo HEA grain growth with an increase in sintering temperature and time, which confirms the inhibition of WC grain growth because of sluggish diffusion in multi-element HEA binder. The resulting cemented carbide has a homogeneous structure of WC particles uniformly surrounded by a thin layer of FeCrNiWMo HEA. In addition, the formation of a new (Cr, Fe, Ni)xWyCz complex carbide phase associated with the presence of oxides on the surface of the particles was found. The obtained cemented carbide also has high microhardness (18.9 GPa) and fracture toughness (11.4 MPa· m
^1/2
) values, which at the selected WC particle size of 4–6 µm are provided by the properties and grain size of FeCrNiWMo HEA and reflects the prospects of this material as a binder to replace Co in cemented carbides.