The CoCrFeNiMn high-entropy alloys were treated by powder-pack boriding to improve their surface hardness and wear resistance. The variation of boriding layer thickness with time and temperature was studied. Then, the frequency factor D₀ and diffusion activation energy Q of element B in HEA are calculated to be 9.15 × 10⁻⁵ m²/s and 206.93 kJ/mol, respectively. The diffusion behavior of elements in the boronizing process was investigated and shows that the boride layer forms with the metal atoms diffusing outward and the diffusion layer forms with the B atoms diffusing inward by the Pt-labeling method. In addition, the surface microhardness of CoCrFeNiMn HEA was significantly improved to 23.8 ± 1.4 Gpa, and the friction coefficient was reduced from 0.86 to 0.48~0.61.

The corrosion of galvanizing equipment parts by liquid zinc is an urgent problem that needs solving. In this work, FeB-30 wt.% Al_0.25FeNiCoCr cermet coating was deposited on the surface of 316L stainless steel by AC-HVAF to protect galvanizing equipment parts from corrosion by liquid zinc. The microstructures and phase compositions of powders and the coating were determined by SEM, EDS, and XRD in detail. Additionally, the microhardness, fracture toughness, abrasion wear resistance, and corrosion resistance of the coating to liquid zinc were also studied. The results indicate that the abrasion wear resistance and corrosion resistance of the coating are much better than that of the 316L stainless steel substrate. The failure of the coating in liquid zinc is mainly due to the penetration of liquid zinc into macro-cracks, which causes the coating to peel off.

The microstructure, interfacial characteristics, and corrosion resistance of Fe-W-Mn-Al-B alloys in molten zinc at 520 °C have been investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), and electron probe micro-analysis (EPMA). The experimental results indicate that the Fe-B alloy with 11 wt.% W, 7 wt.% Mn, and 4 wt.% Al addition displays a lamellar eutectic microstructure and excellent corrosion resistance to molten zinc. The toughness of M₂B-type borides in the hyper-eutectic Fe-4.2B-11W-7Mn-4Al alloy can be more than doubled, reaching 10.5 MPa·m^1/2, by adding Mn and Al. The corrosion layer of the Fe-3.5B-11W-7Mn-4Al alloy immersed in molten zinc at 520 °C comprises Fe₃AlZn_x, δ-FeZn₁₀, ζ-FeZn₁₃, and η-Zn. The lamellar borides provide the mechanical protection for α-(Fe, Mn, Al), and the thermal stability of borides improves as the fracture toughness of the borides increases, which jointly contribute to the improvement of the corrosion resistance to the molten zinc.