High-Entropy Alloy Corrosion Resistance Patent Landscape
The high-entropy alloy corrosion resistance field is in a Growth stage, with annual filings rising and a 90% increase over the recent multi-year window — though the most recent period is understated by publication lag. The competitive landscape is heavily concentrated in Chinese academic institutions, with Xiangtan University holding the top position and alloy composition (C22C) forming the dominant technology branch.
Chinese universities dominate a moderately concentrated field
Xiangtan University leads the applicant ranking with 45 patent families, followed by the Institute of Metal Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences at 32 and Kunming University of Science and Technology at 27. The top five filers collectively account for 21% of the combined output of the hundred largest filers, indicating moderate but meaningful concentration at the top tier.
A clear tier gap separates the top three institutions from the remainder of the top ten, where counts range from 14 to 22 patent families. Below rank ten, applicants cluster tightly in the single digits, suggesting a long tail of smaller contributors rather than a compact group of challengers.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Xiangtan University | 45 | |
| 2 | Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences | 32 | |
| 3 | KUNMING UNIV OF SCI & TECH | 27 | |
| 4 | UNIV OF SCI & TECH BEIJING | 22 | |
| 5 | Nanchang Hangkong University | 19 | |
| 6 | Xi’an Jiaotong University | 17 | |
| 7 | Harbin Institute of Technology | 16 | |
| 8 | POSTECH Academy Industry Foundation | 16 | |
| 9 | Dalian University of Technology | 16 | |
| 10 | Zhengzhou University | 14 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences | 13 | |
| 12 | Central South University | 12 | |
| 13 | Guangdong Institute of New Materials | 12 | |
| 14 | Taiyuan University of Technology | 12 | |
| 15 | Shanghai University | 11 | |
| 16 | Jiangsu University OF SCI & TECH | 10 | |
| 17 | NANJING UNIV OF AERONAUTICS & ASTRONAUTICS | 10 | |
| 18 | Wuhan Supor Cookware Co., Ltd. | 10 | |
| 19 | Sichuan University | 10 | |
| 20 | Wuhan University | 9 |
The dominance of universities and public research institutes — rather than industrial or commercial entities — signals that the field remains largely in a translational phase, with foundational alloy design and surface treatment know-how concentrated in academic hands. Industrial players such as Wuhan Supor Cookware and POSTECH Academy Industry Foundation (the latter being the sole non-Chinese institution in the top ten) represent early signs of applied and international interest.
Filings from the most recent 18–24 months are subject to publication lag and will be understated relative to their eventual totals; trend reads for 2025–2026 should be treated as provisional. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Sustained filing growth paired with a composition-dominated technology mix
Annual filing data and the technology branch breakdown together reveal a field that has grown rapidly since 2017 and is anchored in alloy composition work, with secondary clusters in coatings and powder metallurgy pointing to active process diversification.
Annual filing trend
Filings grew from 31 in 2017 to a recorded high of 176 in 2025, reflecting 90% growth over the recent multi-year window. The apparent dip in 2026 (19 records) is a publication-lag artifact and should not be read as a reversal; the field remains in a Growth stage. The steepest acceleration occurred between 2021 and 2022, when annual volume jumped from 86 to 141.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
C22C (Alloys) dominates with 802 records, more than double the second branch C23C (Coating and surface deposition) at 421, underscoring that bulk alloy composition design remains the primary research vector. B22F (Powder metallurgy) at 279 and B33Y (Additive manufacturing) at 65 indicate growing interest in net-shape and layer-by-layer fabrication routes. Lower-density branches such as H01M (Batteries and fuel cells), G21C (Nuclear reactors), and C25D (Electroplating) point to emerging application verticals with limited current coverage.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
High-entropy alloy film and manufacturing method t…
A high-entropy alloy film, the composition of which includes titanium, zirconium, niobium, tantalum and iron. The high-entropy alloy film is made with a combination of elements with high biocompatibility, and its formation of non-crystalline structure is further improved by adding iron. Furthermore, as the content of titanium in the high-entropy alloy film… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 激光熔覆用高熵合金粉末和高熵合金涂层的制备方法 | 132 |
| 2 | Precipitation Hardening High Entropy Alloy and Met… | 128 |
| 3 | 一种喷涂用高熵合金粉末 | 82 |
| 4 | 一种多相高熵合金及其制备方法 | 77 |
| 5 | 一种铝电解惰性阳极 | 64 |
| 6 | AlxCrFeNiCuVTi高熵合金材料及其制备方法 | 57 |
| 7 | 激光熔覆用高熵合金粉末及熔覆层制备方法 | 56 |
| 8 | Alloy member, method for producing alloy member, a… | 50 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
What the competitive structure means for R&D investment decisions
The combination of a Growth-stage lifecycle, academic concentration, and a broad but shallow technology tail creates both entry opportunities and crowding risks that vary sharply by technical route.
Growth stage: rising volume, not yet consolidated
The field is classified as Growth, with annual filings still rising and the recent multi-year window showing 90% expansion. Foundational composition patents (C22C) are accumulating rapidly, which will progressively narrow freedom to operate in core alloy design. Teams entering now should prioritize differentiated composition spaces or process-layer innovations rather than broad alloy claims.
Lifecycle: GrowthModerate top-tier concentration; long challenger tail
The top five filers hold 21% of the hundred largest filers’ combined output, with Xiangtan University at 45 patent families setting a clear benchmark. The drop-off after rank three is steep, and ranks 6–20 are tightly bunched between 9 and 17 patent families. This structure means a focused entrant could realistically build a top-ten position within a few years by concentrating on an underserved branch.
HHI: moderateBilateral university–industry pairs signal early tech transfer
Collaboration is sparse but visible. Xiangtan University co-files with Yongzhou City Product Quality Supervision and Inspection Institute (2 joint families); the University of Science and Technology Beijing pairs with two water-sector bodies — the Ministry of Water Resources Product Quality Standards Research Institute and Ningxia Yellow River Hydropower Qingtongxia Power Generation Co., Ltd. — each at 2 families. POSTECH Academy Industry Foundation co-files with Korea Institute of Materials Science and with Chungnam National University’s industry-academic cooperation foundation (2 families each). These dyads suggest early applied pilots in water infrastructure and Korean steel sectors.
Co-filing: bilateralChina-centric filing; international coverage thin
China accounts for 951 of the jurisdiction records, with the United States and WIPO (PCT) each at 17 and South Korea at 10. Europe (EPO) and Japan each register 6 records. The gap between China and all other jurisdictions is extreme, meaning most IP is currently protected only domestically. Organizations seeking global freedom to operate — or intending to license into aerospace, energy, or marine markets outside China — face minimal blocking risk from existing filings but also an open field to establish early international positions.
Lead office: ChinaGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
| Applicant | Collaborator | Co-filings |
|---|---|---|
| Xiangtan University | Yongzhou City Product Quality Supervision and Inspection Institute | 2 |
| University of Science and Technology Beijing | Ministry of Water Resources Product Quality Standards Research Institute | 2 |
| University of Science and Technology Beijing | Ningxia Yellow River Hydropower Qingtongxia Power Generation Co., Ltd. | 2 |
| Nanchang Hangkong University | Jiangxi Hengda High-Tech Co., Ltd. | 2 |
| POSTECH Academy Industry Foundation | Korea Institute of Materials Science | 2 |
| POSTECH Academy Industry Foundation | Chungnam National University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation | 2 |
| Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences | Qingdao Research Center for Resource Chemistry and New Materials | 2 |
| Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences | Liaoning Zhongke Boyan Technology Co., Ltd. | 1 |
| Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences | Nanchang Hangkong University | 1 |
| Kunming University of Science and Technology | Yunnan Xuecuo Technology Co., Ltd. | 1 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Xiangtan University leads in volume; Institute of Metal Research and Nanchang Hangkong show the strongest recent momentum
The top applicants are all academic institutions, each anchored in core alloy composition work but diverging in their secondary process routes — a differentiation that matters for licensing and partnership targeting.
Xiangtan University
Xiangtan University holds 45 patent families, the largest portfolio in the corpus. Its technical focus is split between alloy composition (C22C 1 and C22C 30, 40 records each) and powder metallurgy (B22F 3, 12 records), indicating a strong emphasis on bulk alloy design backed by forming process know-how. Recent momentum shows a 17% decline versus the prior period, suggesting the institution’s filing pace may be moderating after an earlier buildup.
families: 45Nanchang Hangkong University
Nanchang Hangkong University holds 19 patent families and is classified as a new entrant in momentum terms, with 17 of those families filed in the recent period — the highest recent-window count among the challengers tracked. Its technical emphasis spans alloy composition (C22C 30, 16 records), powder metallurgy via additive routes (B22F 10, 11 records), and 3D printing (B33Y 10, 10 records), making it one of the few top applicants with a clear additive manufacturing orientation, a less crowded branch within this corpus.
families: 19| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Xiangtan University | 10 | ▼ -17% |
| Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences | 20 | ▲ new entrant |
| Kunming University of Science and Technology | 12 | ▲ new entrant |
| University of Science and Technology Beijing | 12 | ▲ new entrant |
| Nanchang Hangkong University | 17 | ▲ new entrant |
| Xi’an Jiaotong University | 7 | ▲ new entrant |
| POSTECH Academy Industry Foundation | 2 | ▲ new entrant |
| Dalian University of Technology | 8 | ▲ new entrant |
Under-served branches adjacent to the dominant composition core
Several IPC branches appear at low density relative to the core C22C cluster yet have plausible technical relevance and realistic entry paths for teams already working on HEA corrosion resistance.
B33Y · Additive manufacturing (3D printing)
With 65 records against 802 in C22C, additive manufacturing represents roughly 3% of the branch mix — sparse given that AM routes enable complex geometries and controlled microstructures that directly influence corrosion behavior. Nanchang Hangkong University is the only top-ten applicant with notable AM activity (B33Y 10, 10 records), suggesting the sub-space is not yet crowded. An entry path exists for teams combining HEA powder design (B22F) with AM process parameter optimization, targeting applications such as marine hardware or chemical plant components where geometry-driven corrosion protection is valued.
Search this in Eureka →G21C · Nuclear reactors
Only 12 records appear under G21C (Nuclear reactors) across the entire corpus, making this one of the sparsest application-domain branches relative to the known technical need: reactor structural materials face simultaneous corrosion, radiation damage, and elevated-temperature oxidation — a multi-stressor environment where HEAs’ configurational entropy and phase stability offer genuine potential advantages. The near-absence of filing activity leaves international patent space largely open, and the presence of China Nuclear Power Technology Research Institute Co., Ltd. in the broader applicant list confirms institutional awareness of the application. Entry requires demonstrating radiation tolerance alongside corrosion performance, which raises the experimental bar but also the defensibility of resulting claims.
Search this in Eureka →How leading applicants differ by technology route
Route coverage across the main technology branches in the current evidence set.
| Player | C22C 30 · Alloys | C22C 1 · Alloys | C23C 24 · Coating & surface deposition | B22F 9 · Powder metallurgy | C22C 38 · Alloys |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xiangtan University | Strong · 40 | Strong · 40 | Absent | Emerging · 6 | Absent |
| Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences | Strong · 27 | Strong · 24 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Kunming University of Science and Technology | Strong · 22 | Moderate · 9 | Strong · 17 | Absent | Absent |
| University of Science and Technology Beijing | Strong · 17 | Strong · 13 | Emerging · 3 | Absent | Moderate · 7 |
| Nanchang Hangkong University | Strong · 16 | Absent | Moderate · 7 | Emerging · 3 | Absent |
| POSTECH Academy Industry Foundation | Strong · 9 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Strong · 16 |
| Dalian University of Technology | Strong · 12 | Strong · 11 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus contains 974 patent families in scope. Filing activity has grown 90% over the recent multi-year window, and the field is classified in a Growth lifecycle stage.
Xiangtan University leads with 45 patent families, ahead of the Institute of Metal Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences at 32 and Kunming University of Science and Technology at 27.
Universities and public research institutes dominate the top of the ranking. Industrial applicants appear further down the list; Wuhan Supor Cookware is a notable commercial entrant with 10 patent families, and POSTECH Academy Industry Foundation (16 families) blends academic and industry-facing roles.
China accounts for 951 of the jurisdiction records, far ahead of the United States and WIPO (PCT) at 17 each and South Korea at 10. Europe (EPO) and Japan each register 6 records. International coverage outside China is thin, leaving global IP space relatively open.
C22C (Alloys) dominates at 802 records, followed by C23C (Coating and surface deposition) at 421 and B22F (Powder metallurgy) at 279. Under-served branches relative to their technical relevance include B33Y (Additive manufacturing, 65 records) and G21C (Nuclear reactors, 12 records).
The Institute of Metal Research (Chinese Academy of Sciences), Kunming University of Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Nanchang Hangkong University, Xi’an Jiaotong University, POSTECH Academy Industry Foundation, and Dalian University of Technology are all classified as new entrants in the recent period, indicating their portfolios are largely recent-window activity. Xiangtan University, by contrast, shows a 17% decline versus its prior period, suggesting a moderating pace.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from PatSnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
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