Alfred University professor, students publish paper in Corrosion Science journal

ALFRED, NY – A paper written by Kun Wang, assistant professor of materials science and engineering at Alfred University, and four of his students appears in the latest issue of the Corrosion Science.

An international journal, Corrosion Science provides a medium for the communication of ideas, developments and research in all aspects of this field and includes both metallic and non-metallic corrosion. An article—titled “The oxidation-resistance mechanism of WTaNbTiAl refractory high entropy alloy”—was written by Wang and four students— Yonggang Yan, Kade McGarrity, Daniel Delia, and Curtis Fekety —and appears in the August in Vol. 204 of Corrosion Science.

McGarrity earned a B.S. degree in ceramic engineering from Alfred University in 2017 and his PhD in materials science and engineering in May. Fekety earned his master’s degree in glass science engineering in May. Delia, who earned a B.S. degree in ceramic engineering from Alfred University in 2018, and Yan are both pursuing doctoral degrees in materials science and engineering.

The paper published in Corrosion Science details research the team conducted in a Ceramic Engineering and Materials Science class on metallic materials (CEMS 400/500) taught by Wang and William LaCourse, retired professor of glass science. The research produced a model explaining the oxidation kinetics of a novel five-element high entropy alloy (HEA).

The paper in Corrosion Science is closely related to one published last year in the journal, Computational Materials Science, based on research by Wang, Yonggang Yan, and Dan Lu, assistant professor of renewable energy engineering at Alfred University. That paper outlined how researchers used modern artificial intelligence (AI) to design novel single-phase HEAs that can potentially sustain high temperature oxidation environments.

“We fabricated several potential HEAs samples using powder metallurgy route and conducted the oxidation experiment at high temperatures,” Wang explained. “We discovered that the WTaNbTiAl alloy demonstrated exceptional oxidation resistance after 48 hours continuous oxidation at 1000 °C.”

Research conducted by Wang, Yan, McGarrity, Delia, and Fekety used state-of-the-art electron microscopy equipment—including a Focused Ion Beam and Transmission Electron Microscope—in Alfred University’s Inamori School of Engineering to “interrogate why WTaNbTiAl alloy has great oxidation resistance in atomic scale and nanoscale,” Wang said.

The research detailed in the papers is significant as it applies to development of materials that can hold up when exposed to harsh high-temperature environments.

Engineering materials (such as those used in hypersonic vehicles, jet engine, and advanced nuclear reactors) “can degrade with service time under such harsh environments,” Wang explained. “The metallic materials are conventionally considered as appropriate engineering materials for a wide range of applications, due to their great mechanical properties and resistance to fracture. However, at high temperatures, such as 1000 °C or above, most of metal elements would be quickly oxidized in air, leading to the failure of the engineering materials.”

Novel HEAs consisting of five different metal elements are oxidation-resistant at high temperatures. In the work led by Wang and detailed in Corrosion Science, researchers mixed refractory metal elements like tungsten, tantalum, molybdenum and oxidation-resistant metal elements like aluminum, chromium, and titanium together, to form the novel HEAs.

The research outlined in the papers was supported by the Inamori School of Engineering faculty startup fund, through a grant from the National Science Foundation, and the Center for Advanced Ceramic Technology at Alfred University.