High-Entropy Nanomaterials Patent Landscape 2026
The high-entropy nanomaterials field is in a confirmed growth phase, with filings rising 78% over the recent window and activity heavily concentrated in Chinese and Indian academic institutions. The landscape remains early-stage and fragmented, with no single applicant holding more than 4 patent records, presenting an open competitive window for industrial entrants.
Academic institutions lead a fragmented, China-dominated field
Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad and the Academy of Armored Forces Engineering (PLA) jointly top the ranking with 4 patent records each, followed by a cluster of Chinese universities — Northeastern University. China, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Jiangsu University of Science & Technology, and Jiangsu University — each holding 3 patent records.
The top five filers account for 14% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total, indicating a highly distributed competitive structure with no dominant industrial owner. The tier gap between the top pair and the broader field is narrow, suggesting that no applicant has yet established a commanding portfolio.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad | 4 | |
| 2 | Academy of Armored Forces Engineering (PLA) | 4 | |
| 3 | Northeastern University China | 3 | |
| 4 | Xi’an Jiaotong University | 3 | |
| 5 | Jiangsu University OF SCI & TECH | 3 | |
| 6 | Jiangsu University | 3 | |
| 7 | Kookmin University Industry-Academia Cooperation Foundation | 2 | |
| 8 | Shanghai Jiao Tong University | 2 | |
| 9 | Tohoku Techno Arch Co., Ltd. | 2 | |
| 10 | South China University of Technology | 2 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Korea Institute of Materials Science | 2 | |
| 12 | WUHAN UNIV OF SCI & TECH | 2 | |
| 13 | Northwest Institute for Nonferrous Metal Research | 2 | |
| 14 | Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee | 2 | |
| 15 | National Tsing Hua University | 2 | |
| 16 | Beijing University of Technology | 2 | |
| 17 | Wang Qiang (individual inventor) | 2 | |
| 18 | MARINE EQUIP & TECH INST Jiangsu University OF SCI & TECH | 2 | |
| 19 | Guangxi University | 2 | |
| 20 | City University of Hong Kong | 2 |
The leaders’ positions reflect early-stage academic exploration rather than entrenched industrial IP, which means the field is accessible to corporate entrants willing to file systematically across the dominant alloy and powder-metallurgy classes.
Filing counts for 2025 and 2026 are understated due to standard patent publication lag and should not be read as a slowdown. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Sustained filing growth with alloy and powder-metallurgy at the core
Annual filing volume has climbed steadily since 2017, and the technology mix is dominated by metallic alloy classes with a secondary nanotechnology-specific branch. Together these patterns define where incumbents are concentrating effort and where gaps remain.
Annual filing trend
Filings grew from 6 records in 2017 to 18 in 2024, with a 78% expansion in the recent window. The 2025 and 2026 figures (22 and 3 respectively) are artificially low due to publication lag and should not be interpreted as a reversal of the growth trend.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
C22C (Alloys) dominates the branch mix, followed by B22F (Powder metallurgy) and B82Y (Nanotechnology applications). Thinner branches — including C25B (Electrolytic production), H01M (Batteries & fuel cells), and B01J (Catalysis) — signal adjacent application areas with proportionally lighter 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 thin film coating and method fo…
A method for preparing a high entropy alloy thin film coating includes preparing a melt alloy by arc melting raw materials including five or more elements, casting the melt alloy into a mold to form a target, placing the target inside a vacuum chamber of a magnetron sputtering system, and rotatably fixing a substrate inside the vacuum chamber, spaced apart… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | High entropy alloy thin film coating and method fo… | 62 |
| 2 | 一种含非晶纳米晶高熵合金粉末及其制备方法 | 54 |
| 3 | High-entropy alloy, and method for producing the s… | 42 |
| 4 | 一种CrFeCoNiNbx高熵合金及其制备方法 | 39 |
| 5 | Method for manufacturing nanocrystalline high entr… | 37 |
| 6 | Thermo-mechanical processing of high entropy alloy… | 36 |
| 7 | 一种含非晶纳米晶高熵合金涂层的制备方法 | 33 |
| 8 | Efficient High-Entropy Alloys Design Method Includ… | 22 |
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 structure means for R&D investment decisions
Three structural features — an early growth lifecycle, thin concentration, active new entrants, and a. China-centric jurisdiction profile — combine to shape where the highest-value R&D gaps lie.
Growth stage with rising annual volume
The field carries a confirmed Growth lifecycle designation: annual filings are still rising and the recent-window growth rate stands at 78%. This places high-entropy nanomaterials well before the consolidation phase seen in adjacent high-entropy alloy fields, meaning foundational IP positions are still available. Early movers who file now can establish prior art across core process and composition claims before industrial scaling attracts larger players.
Growth stageFragmented field with no industrial anchor
The top five filers hold 14% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total — a low concentration ratio signalling that no corporate or institutional player has yet locked up the IP landscape. The leading holders each hold only 4 patent records, meaning a focused multi-family filing campaign could move an entrant into a top-three position within one or two patent cycles. This fragmentation also reduces freedom-to-operate risk for new entrants.
Low concentrationEarly-stage co-filing between proximate institutions
The most active co-filing pair is Jiangsu University of Science & Technology with the Marine Equipment & Technology Institute of Jiangsu University of Science & Technology (2 joint records), reflecting intra-institutional collaboration on marine-equipment-related applications. Xi’an Jiaotong University and the China Institute of Atomic Energy have filed 1 joint record, hinting at defense-adjacent research. Cross-sector or cross-border collaboration partnerships have not yet surfaced in the evidence, representing a potential differentiator for an industrial entrant seeking academic co-development.
Emerging collaborationChina-centric filing with thin Western coverage
China accounts for the largest share of patent records, with India, the United States, WIPO (PCT), Japan, and South Korea also represented. Western jurisdictions — including the United Kingdom and Taiwan — appear with only 2 records each, and PCT coverage is limited to 4 records. This means that commercially significant markets in North America and Europe carry minimal existing IP density, giving non-Chinese filers a relatively clear path to building jurisdiction-specific protection.
China-dominantGo 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Jiangsu University of Science and Technology | Marine Equipment and Technology Institute, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology | 2 |
| Xi’an Jiaotong University | China Institute of Atomic Energy | 1 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Top players by alloy composition and powder-metallurgy emphasis
The two leading applicants share the top rank but differ sharply in technical focus: one is oriented toward alloy composition and electroplating, the other toward powder-metallurgy process IP. Both are academic or government-affiliated, with no pure-play industrial leader yet established.
Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad
IIT Hyderabad holds 4 patent records, the joint-highest count in the corpus, with primary emphasis on C22C 30 (Alloys), B22F 3 (Powder metallurgy), and C25D 3 (Electroplating & electroforming). This breadth across synthesis and deposition routes suggests a research program covering both bulk composition and thin-film applications. Momentum data for this applicant is not separately listed in the recent-entrant signals, indicating a more established rather than newly surging filing posture.
patent records: 4Academy of Armored Forces Engineering (PLA)
Also holding 4 patent records, the Academy of Armored Forces Engineering concentrates on B22F 1 and B22F 9 (Powder metallurgy process steps) alongside C22C 30 (Alloys), indicating a process-centric strategy likely targeting wear-resistant and structural coatings for defense platforms. The powder-metallurgy depth contrasts with IIT Hyderabad’s broader deposition coverage and positions this applicant as a specialist in feedstock and sintering routes.
patent records: 4| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Xi’an Jiaotong University | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
| Jiangsu University of Science and Technology | 2 | ▲ new entrant |
| Northeastern University China | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
| Northwest Institute for Nonferrous Metal Research | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
Under-served branches worth monitoring
Several IPC classes appear in the corpus with low record counts relative to the dominant alloy and powder-metallurgy branches. These observations indicate relative sparsity; technical and commercial value must be weighed separately before treating them as investment opportunities.
H01M · Batteries, Cells & Fuel Cells
With only 10 patent records, the electrochemical energy-storage branch is one of the thinnest in the corpus despite high-entropy multi-principal-element compositions being actively studied in academic literature for electrocatalyst and electrode applications. Entry paths include high-entropy oxide or sulfide catalyst compositions for oxygen reduction or hydrogen evolution reactions, areas where the corpus shows minimal coverage. The limited existing IP density and the presence of C25B (electrolytic production) as a nearby thin branch suggest that a targeted filing campaign in this area faces low incumbent density.
Search this in Eureka →B01J · Chemical/Physical Processes & Catalysis
Catalysis (B01J) accounts for only 6 patent records — 2% of the branch distribution — despite high-entropy nanoparticles being a recognized candidate for heterogeneous catalysis owing to their tunable active sites and thermal stability. The sparse coverage in this branch, combined with the absence of C02F (water and wastewater treatment) and C07D (heterocyclic synthesis) claims beyond 1 record each, indicates that high-entropy nanomaterial catalysts for environmental and chemical-synthesis applications remain largely unprotected. An applicant with expertise in catalyst formulation could potentially establish foundational composition-of-matter claims in this sub-space.
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 | B22F 9 · Powder metallurgy | C22C 1 · Alloys | B82Y 30 · Nanotechnology applications | B22F 1 · Powder metallurgy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy of Armored Forces Engineering (PLA) | Strong · 4 | Strong · 4 | Absent | Absent | Strong · 4 |
| Jiangsu University of Science and Technology | Strong · 3 | Strong · 2 | Absent | Strong · 3 | Strong · 2 |
| Northeastern University China | Strong · 3 | Strong · 2 | Absent | Absent | Strong · 2 |
| Shanghai Jiao Tong University | Strong · 2 | Strong · 2 | Strong · 2 | Absent | Absent |
| Beijing University of Technology | Strong · 2 | Strong · 2 | Strong · 2 | Absent | Absent |
| Marine Equipment and Technology Institute, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology | Absent | Strong · 2 | Absent | Strong · 2 | Strong · 2 |
| Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad | Strong · 4 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus contains 98 patent families in scope. Activity is concentrated in China and India, with Chinese offices accounting for the largest share of records.
Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad and the Academy of Armored Forces Engineering (PLA) are jointly ranked first, each with 4 patent records. Both are academic or government-affiliated institutions rather than commercial manufacturers.
The field is classified as Growth. Annual filings have risen consistently since 2017 and the recent-window growth rate is 78%. The 2025 and 2026 data points are understated by publication lag and should not be read as a slowdown.
C22C (Alloys) is the dominant branch, followed by B22F (Powder metallurgy) and B82Y (Nanotechnology applications). These three branches collectively account for the majority of classified records in the corpus.
B01J (Catalysis) and H01M (Batteries, cells & fuel cells) are among the thinnest branches with 6 and 10 patent records respectively, suggesting limited existing IP coverage relative to the scientifically active areas of high-entropy electrocatalysts and electrode materials.
China leads with 74 patent records, followed by India with 11 and the United States with 7. WIPO PCT filings number only 4, and Western European coverage is minimal, meaning that commercially significant markets outside Asia carry relatively sparse existing protection.
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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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