The work aims to further enhance the microhardness and wear resistance of high-entropy alloy (HEA) Ti

0.8

CoCrFeNiAl

0.5

. The Ti

0.8

CoCrFeNiAl

0.5

/TiN composite coatings with different TiN contents were prepared on the  surface of TC21 by laser cladding. The microstructures and phases of cladding layer were analyzed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM)

X–ray diffractometry (XRD) and electron probe micr

oanalysis (EPMA). The hardness distribution and wear resistance of the cladding layer are characterized by the microhardness tester and the material surface comprehensive performance tester. The results showed that the cladding layer is formed well and has good metallurgical bonding. Without TiN

 the cladding layer is mainly composed of BCC1

 FCC

 Laves phases and β–Ti. After adding TiN

TiN particles precipitate in-situ in the cladding layer. The cladding layer is mainly composed of dendritic structure of BCC1 phase rich in Al–Co–Ni–Ti

interdendritic structure of BCC2 phase rich in Fe–Cr–Ti and Laves phase

 β–Ti and TiN particles embedded between dendritic structure and interdendritic structure. The microhardness of the cladding layer increases to more than 2 times of the substrate

and the hardness of the cladding layer with 8% TiN is 1.23 times of the sample without TiN. When the content of TiN is 6%

the wear resistance is high

which is about 2.92 times that of the sample without TiN. It reveals that the addition of TiN is beneficial to the precipitation of TiN particles and the formation of BCC phase in the cladding layer

which can effectively improve the hardness and wear resistance of the cladding layer.