Tailoring the physical properties of Ni-based single-phase equiatomic alloys by modifying the chemical complexity

Equiatomic alloys (e.g. high entropy alloys) have recently attracted considerable interest due to their exceptional properties, which might be closely related to their extreme disorder induced by the chemical complexity. In order to understand the effects of chemical complexity on their fundamental physical properties, a family of (eight) Ni-based, face-center-cubic (FCC), equiatomic alloys, extending from elemental Ni to quinary high entropy alloys, has been synthesized, and their electrical, thermal, and magnetic properties are systematically investigated in the range of 4–300 K by combining experiments with ab initio Korring-Kohn-Rostoker coherent-potential-approximation (KKR-CPA) calculations. The scattering of electrons is significantly increased due to the chemical (especially magnetic) disorder. It has weak correlation with the number of elements but strongly depends on the type of elements. Thermal conductivities of the alloys are largely lower than pure metals, primarily because the high electrical resistivity suppresses the electronic thermal conductivity. The temperature dependence of the electrical and thermal transport properties is further discussed, and the magnetization of five alloys containing three or more elements is measured in magnetic fields up to 4 T.