Stepping Out of the Teens: From Innovations and Potential to Applications in High-Entropy Alloys

The evolution and development of high-entropy alloys or complex concentrated alloys have led to intense scientific research, debates, and developments in the field of physical and mechanical metallurgy over the last 19 years. Having started as a disruptor in the age-old art and science of alloy development, HEAs have demonstrated that they can offer synergy between different mechanisms to provide unique properties hitherto unachieved by conventional alloys. This has led to the broadening of high-entropy alloys to high-entropy materials to include ceramics and polymers that shall offer a unique compositional and corresponding physical, mechanical, and functional property space. Nevertheless, it is also true that over the years, most of the discussion has been around the potential of HEAs and it is high time for the researchers in the field to walk the talk and convert the potential of HEAs to performance for real engineering applications. The present review aims to showcase a few examples of fundamental and applied research in high-entropy alloys as well as the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning approaches for the same. In addition, we present the encouraging contribution of HEAs in two developing areas of additive manufacturing and alloy scrap recycling for sustainable manufacturing.