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Xiao et al. Microstructures 2023;3:2023006 Microstructures
DOI: 10.20517/microstructures.2022.26

Review Open Access

Environmental embrittlement behavior of high-

entropy alloys

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1
1,2
1,2
1
1
Bo Xiao 1,2,3 , Shaofei Liu , Jianyang Zhang , Yinghao Zhou , Qian Li , Jinxiong Hou , Weicheng Xiao ,
1,3
1
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Jixun Zhang , Yilu Zhao , Chain Tsuan Liu , Lianyong Xu , Tao Yang 1,3
1
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Mechanical Behavior Division of Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials
Science, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China.
2
Center for Advanced Nuclear Safety and Sustainable Development, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China.
3
Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China.
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School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), Shenzhen 518055, Guangdong, China.
5
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China.
Correspondence to: Prof. Tao Yang, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Mechanical Behavior Division of
Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China. E-mail:
taoyang6@cityu.edu.hk
How to cite this article: Xiao B, Liu S, Zhang J, Zhou Y, Li Q, Hou J, Xiao W, Zhang J, Zhao Y, Liu CT, Xu L, Yang T. Environmental
embrittlement behavior of high-entropy alloys. Microstructures 2023;3:2023006.
https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/microstructures.2022.26
Received: 18 Sep 2022 First Decision: 11 Oct 2022 Revised: 21 Oct 2022 Accepted: 14 Nov 2022 Available online: 10 Jan 2023
Academic Editors: Huijun Li, Shujun Zhang Copy Editor: Fangling Lan Production Editor: Fangling Lan
Abstract
High entropy alloys (HEAs), as a new class of structural materials, have attracted extensive interest from
numerous metallurgical scientists and engineers. Benefiting from their unique microstructural features and
outstanding mechanical performance, HEAs have shown significant potential for applications in many engineering
fields, even under extreme conditions. In particular, when exposed to hydrogen and/or intermediate-temperature
environments, these HEAs inevitably suffer from severe environmental embrittlement (EE) issues, e.g., hydrogen
embrittlement (HE) and intermediate-temperature embrittlement (ITE), resulting in serious premature
intergranular failure. In this work, we critically review the state-of-the-art advances of EE in previously reported
HEA systems. Particular focus is given to novel strategies to enhance the resistance to EE in different HEAs. Two
critical embrittlement phenomena, namely, HE and ITE, are highlighted separately. Finally, we provide perspectives
on future research directions and opportunities for EE-resistant HEAs.

© The Author(s) 2023. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, sharing,
adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as
long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and
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