The researchers from Skoltech and Tomsk Polytechnic University have tuned up the synthesis of a five-component carbide, a strong and refractory compound of carbon and five transition metals that has prospects for applications in industrial ceramics and catalysis. Based on fundamental theoretical principles, numerical simulations, and machine learning, the scientists determined the conditions for the synthesis of single-phase carbide, a state of matter where all metal atoms have been evenly distributed throughout the crystal volume, and verified the correctness of the prediction experimentally.

The method of vacuum-free electric arc synthesis makes it possible to produce high-entropy carbide in powder form without the use of a complex, expensive equipment that consumes most electricity, in particular, vacuum pumps to achieve high vacuum or presses to create external pressure.

The study has been published in the first quartile journal Computational Materials.