Role of electronic energy loss on defect production and interface stability: Comparison between ceramic materials and high-entropy alloys

•Ionization effects and the associated chemical complexity should be considered to understand radiation effects in complex alloys.•The coupled elastic and inelastic thermal spikes both contribute to the grain growth of nanocrystalline high-entropy alloys (HEAs).•The much slower radiation-induced microstructural evolution in nanocrystalline HEAs is attributed to the sluggish diffusion and the resulting slower kinetics.