Tungsten-containing high-entropy alloys: a focused review of manufacturing routes, phase selection, mechanical properties, and irradiation resistance properties

Alloying is one of the most effective means to confer superior properties to metal materials. For far too long, conventional W-based alloys were generally improved by the addition of minor elements. The exploitation of conventional W-based alloy is restricted to the corner of multielement phase diagrams with tiny compositional space. High-entropy alloys (HEAs) are a novel kind of alloys consisting of multi-principal alloying elements (usually more than 4) and have attracted increasing attention, since they were first reported in 2004. The emergence of HEAs filled the gap of the unexplored central region of multielement phase diagrams. Among them, tungsten-containing HEAs (TCHEAs) exhibit excellent mechanical properties, especially at extraordinarily elevated temperatures. Moreover, recent studies showed that TCHEAs had outstanding irradiation resistance properties. TCHEAs might serve as a promising candidate for plasma-facing materials in the fusion reactor. Many characteristics of TCHEAs are different from other HEAs due to the addition of tungsten with ultrahigh-melting temperature. Here, this paper aimed to introduce the manufacturing routes of TCHEAs; review the phase selection, mechanical properties, and irradiation resistance properties of TCHEAs; and propose the future prospects of TCHEAs.