Solid phase processing of noncrystalline high entropy alloy coatings

Abstract

A method utilizes ball milling for coating a metallic alloy on a target surface. The method includes placing the target surface in a ball mill device. The method includes milling a mixture of powder with exposure to the target surface. The method includes forming an alloy comprising a first metal and a second metal. The method includes coating the alloy on the target surface of the object via a mechanical force of ball milling.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of using ball milling for coating a metallic alloy on a target surface comprising:
 placing the target surface of an object on at least a portion of an interior surface of a ball mill chamber of a ball mill device;   milling a mixture of powder with exposure to the target surface, wherein the mixture of powder comprising a first powder material of a first metal and a second powder material of a second metal;   forming an alloy comprising the first metal and the second metal; and   coating the alloy on the target surface of the object via a mechanical force of ball milling.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein the mixture of powder comprises at least three, four, five, six, or seven different powder materials or at least three, four, five, six, or seven different metals. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein the alloy comprises of five or more elements with relatively high concentrations or the alloy comprises of three or four elements with relatively high concentrations. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein the alloy comprising at least four or at least five different metals, each one of the different metals having at least 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, or 20 w.t %, or at least 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, or 20 vol % or mol %. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein the alloy has component metals substantially uniformly disturbed in a coating layer. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein a component of the mixture of powder is selected from Ag, Al, Au, Be, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Mo, Nb, No, Pd, Si, Ti, V, W, Zn, or Zr. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein each component of the mixture of powder is selected from a group I metal, a group II metal, a group III metal, a group IV metal, or a transition metal. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein the coated alloy is a single phase, multiphase, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein two or more essential component metals in the mixture of powder have a strength mismatch of less than 1.5 and the formed alloy is substantially a single-phase alloy. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein two or more essential component metals in the mixture of powder have a strength mismatch of at least 2 and the formed alloy is substantially a multi-phase alloy. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein two or more essential component metals in the mixture of powder have a strength mismatch of between 1.5-2.0 and the formed alloy is substantially a single-phase alloy or a multi-phase alloy. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein the ball milling process is a dry ball mill process. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein the ball milling process operates at less than 300° C., less than 200° C., less than 100° C., less than 50° C., less than 25° C., less than 10° C., less than 4° C., less than 0° C., less than −10° C., less than −18° C., or less than −80° C. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein the ball milling process operates in a cryogenic ball mill device. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein an average particle size of the first powder material, the second powder material, and/or the average particle size of a mixture of the powder materials is 1 micron to 1000 microns including any value therewithin or any subranges therebetween. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein an average grain size of the alloy is smaller than an average particle size of a mixture of the powder materials. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein an average grain size of the alloy is less than 1 micron, less than 100 nm, less than 50 nm, or less than 30 nm, e.g. 5 nm-100 nm. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 5 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein the coating layer is substantially free of non-metal materials. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 5 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein the coating layer has a hardness higher than the coating layer formed by spraying, cladding, casting, sputtering, vapor deposition, or electrodeposition methods. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 5 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein the coating layer has a hardness of at least 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, or 20 GPa, or a hardness of 5-20 GPa. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 1 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein the loading the ball mill device is between 10 vol %-50 vol %. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 1 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein a lid or cover of the ball mill device is at least a portion of the object to be coated having the target surface exposed to milling media and a mixture of the powder materials. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 1 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, further comprising a leak proofness measures to prevent a mixture of the powder materials coming out of the ball mill chamber. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 1 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein the ball mill chamber further comprises milling media having a size of 1 mm to 500 mm. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 1 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein the object is lid fixed on top of the ball mill chamber. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 1 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein one or more surfaces of the object forms an interior wall, a top surface, a bottom surface, or any combination thereof the ball mill chamber and configured to be removable or disassembled after coating. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 1 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein the object is fixed inside the ball mill chamber. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 1 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein the object is placed inside the ball mill chamber and is configured to be movable or rotatable during ball milling process. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 5 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein the coating layer is rough or uneven in microscale on the target surface after ball milling coating. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, wherein the coating layer has a roughness of greater than 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, or 50 microns on the target surface. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, further comprising a post-processing treatment to reduce the roughness of the target surface. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 5 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, further comprising a heat treatment on the coating layer or to the object after ball milling coating. 
     
     
         33 . A metal alloy coating layer formed by the method of  claim 1 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims. 
     
     
         34 . An object having at least a portion of a surface coated by the method of  claim 1 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims. 
     
     
         35 . A system for coating a metallic alloy on a target surface comprising:
 a ball mill chamber to hold a mixture of powder and ball mill media wherein the ball mill chamber comprises one or more openings such that one or more target surfaces fit and cover the one or more openings to seal the ball mill chamber;   one or more fixation elements configured to fix the one or more target surfaces to the ball mill chamber to seal the ball mill chamber; and   one or more actuators configured to rotate the ball mill chamber for ball milling coating.   
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 35 , any other suitable claim, or any other suitable combination of claims, further comprising a leak proofness measures to prevent a mixture of the powder materials coming out of the ball mill chamber.