FeMnNiAlCr High-Entropy Alloys with High-Efficiency Surface Oxide Solar Absorbers for Concentrating Solar Power Systems

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) have attracted substantial interest in recent years. Thus far, most investigations have focused on their applications as structural materials rather than functional materials. In this paper, we show that FeMnNiAlCr HEAs can potentially be applied as both a structural and functional material for high-efficiency concentrated solar thermal power (CSP) systems working at > 700 °C. The HEA itself would be used in high-temperature tubing to carry working fluids, while its surface oxide would act as a high-efficiency solar thermal absorber. These HEAs have demonstrated yield strengths 2–3× greater than that of stainless steel at 700 °C and a creep lifetime > 800 h at 700 °C under a typical CSP tubing mechanical load of 35 MPa. Their Mn-rich surface oxides maintain a high optical-to-thermal conversion efficiency of ~ 87% under 1000× solar concentration for 20 simulated day-night thermal cycles between 750 °C and environmental temperature. These HEAs have also sustained immersion in unpurified bromide molten salts for 14 days at 750 °C with < 2% weight loss, in contrast to 70% weight loss from a 316 stainless steel reference. The simultaneous achievement of promising mechanical, optical, and thermochemical properties in this FeMnNiAlCr system opens the door to new applications of HEAs in solar energy harvesting.