High-entropy R2O3-Y2O3-TiO2-ZrO2-Al2O3 glasses with ultrahigh hardness, Young's modulus, and indentation fracture toughness
Yongchang Guo,
Jianqiang Li,
Ying Zhang,
Shaowei Feng,
Hong Sun
Affiliations
Yongchang Guo
CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, National Engineering Laboratory for Hydrometallurgical Cleaner Production Technology, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, P. R. China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, P. R. China
Jianqiang Li
CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, National Engineering Laboratory for Hydrometallurgical Cleaner Production Technology, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, P. R. China; School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, P. R. China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, P. R. China; Innovation Academy for Green Manufacture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, P. R. China; Corresponding author
Ying Zhang
CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, National Engineering Laboratory for Hydrometallurgical Cleaner Production Technology, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, P. R. China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, P. R. China
Shaowei Feng
CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, National Engineering Laboratory for Hydrometallurgical Cleaner Production Technology, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, P. R. China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, P. R. China
Hong Sun
CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, National Engineering Laboratory for Hydrometallurgical Cleaner Production Technology, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, P. R. China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, P. R. China
Summary: Glasses with high hardness, high Young's modulus, and high fracture toughness become crucial materials which are urgently needed in the protective covers for various electronic displays. Here, a paradigm is presented that the conceptual design of high-entropy materials is adaptable to high performance oxide glasses. We designed the multi-component glass compositions of 18.77R2O3-4.83Y2O3-28.22TiO2-8.75ZrO2-39.43Al2O3 (R = La, Sm, Gd) and elaborated successfully the glassy samples through a containerless solidification process. The as-prepared samples demonstrated the outstanding mechanical and optical properties. The measured hardness, Young's modulus, and indentation fracture toughness of the high-entropy (R = Gd) glass are 12.58 GPa, 177.9 GPa, and 1.52 MPa·m0.5, respectively, in which the hardness and Young's modulus exhibit the highest value among the reported oxide glasses. Structural analysis revealed that the excellent mechanical properties are attributed to the large dissociation energies and the high field strength of Al2O3, TiO2, and ZrO2 and the complex interaction between atoms caused by high entropy.
