Corrosion resistance and wear behavior of CoCrFeNiMn@Gr high entropy alloy-based composite coatings prepared by laser cladding

In this study, we utilize laser cladding to apply a CoCrFeNiMn HEA with 2 wt% few-layer graphene (Gr) coating onto the surface of Q235B mild steel. Alcohol stirring method was used for HEA and Gr preparation of composite powder. Raman spectroscopy and energy dispersion spectroscope (EDS) indicate the successful mixing of HEA and Gr powders, with Gr adhering to the surface of the HEA powder in a lamellar structure. The X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), EDS, and Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analyses revealed that grain refinement and the formation of fine carbide-hard phases in the HEA/Gr coating improve microhardness and wear resistance. The average Schmidt factors of the coating decreased from 0.47 to 0.45 with the addition of Gr, indicating enhanced resistance to plastic deformation and anisotropy. Nanoindentation experiments demonstrated that the HEA/Gr coatings exhibit superior resistance to plastic deformation, effectively enhancing the coating's durability against spalling under stress and wear conditions. The microhardness of the HEA/Gr coating increased by 99.25%, and the wear rate decreased by 86.31% compared to the HEA coating alone. The open circuit potential (OCP), linear polarization curve, Tafel curves, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and Mott-Schottky tests all indicated that the HEA/Gr coating possesses superior corrosion resistance. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) results suggest that the passivation film of the HEA/Gr coating, which contains more oxides and less hydroxide, is more protective and denser, thereby slowing the corrosion rate.