Abstract
High-entropy nanomaterials have been arousing considerable interest in recent years due to their huge composition space, unique microstructure, and adjustable properties. Previous studies focused mainly on high-entropy nanoparticles, while other high-entropy nanomaterials were rarely reported. Herein, we reported a new class of high-entropy nanomaterials, namely (Ta0.2Nb0.2Ti0.2W0.2Mo0.2)B2 high-entropy diboride (HEB-1) nanoflowers, for the first time. Formation possibility of HEB-1 was first theoretically analyzed from two aspects of lattice size difference and chemical reaction thermodynamics. We then successfully synthesized HEB-1 nanoflowers by a facile molten salt synthesis method at 1423 K. The as-synthesized HEB-1 nanoflowers showed an interesting chrysanthemum-like morphology assembled from numerous well-aligned nanorods with diameters of 20–30 nm and lengths of 100–200 nm. Meanwhile, these nanorods possessed a single-crystalline hexagonal structure of metal diborides and highly compositional uniformity from nanoscale to microscale. In addition, the formation of the as-synthesized HEB-1 nanoflowers could be well interpreted by a classical surface-controlled crystal growth theory. This work not only enriches the categories of high-entropy nanomaterials but also opens up a new research field on high-entropy diboride nanomaterials.
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Acknowledgements
We acknowledge financial support from the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2017YFB0703200), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51802100 and 51972116), Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by CAST (No. 2017QNRC001), and Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (No. 2019A1515012145).
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Liu, D., Liu, H., Ning, S. et al. Chrysanthemum-like high-entropy diboride nanoflowers: A new class of high-entropy nanomaterials. J Adv Ceram 9, 339–348 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40145-020-0373-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40145-020-0373-x