Modern industrial development has put forward higher demands on the performance of metallic structural materials, especially in terms of light weight, high strength and corrosion resistance. All of these characteristics are of particular importance in transportation fields. As one of the most representative structural materials, aluminum and alloys have exhibited significant advantages in light weight. Most of the alloys are prominently featured in one specific aspect. The overall performance still needs to be improved. In recent years, researchers have developed Al-Mg-Zn(-Cu) alloy, a new wrought aluminum alloy, whose design strategy is known as “crossover alloying”. This novel alloy is an age-hardened Al-Mg alloy with a T-Mg₃₂(Al, X)₄₉ (X is Zn, Cu) phase as the main strengthening phase. This system of alloys exhibits excellent properties in terms of strength and corrosion resistance, which makes it promising for applications in automotive, marine, aerospace and other fields. This paper summarizes the research progress of Al-Mg-Zn(-Cu) alloy, and analyzes the basic methods of microstructural control in terms of composition design and property research. Finally, the future directions of this alloy are proposed.

Ni-based bimetallic films with 20 at.% and 45 at.% Cu and mesostructured surfaces were prepared by electrodeposition from an aqueous solution containing micelles of P123 triblock copolymer serving as a structure-directing agent. The pH value of the electrolytic solution had a key effect on both the resulting Cu/Ni ratio and the surface topology. The catalytic activity of the CuNi films toward hydrogen evolution reaction was investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) in 1 M KOH electrolyte at room temperature. The Cu₄₅Ni₅₅ film showed the highest activity (even higher than that of a non-mesostructured pure Ni film), which was attributed to the Ni content at the utmost surface, as demonstrated by CV studies, as well as the presence of a highly corrugated surface.

Nanostructuring of metals is nowadays considered as a promising strategy towards the development of materials with enhanced electrochemical performance. Porous and fully dense CuNi films were electrodeposited on a Cu plate by electrodeposition in view of their application as electrocatalytic materials for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Porous CuNi film were synthesized using the hydrogen bubble template electrodeposition method in an acidic electrolyte, while fully dense CuNi were electrodeposited from a citrate-sulphate bath with the addition of saccharine as a grain refiner. The prepared films were characterized chemically and morphologically by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The Rietveld analysis of the XRD data illustrates that both CuNi films have a nanosized crystallite size. Contact angle measurements reveal that the porous CuNi film exhibits remarkable superhydrophobic behavior, and fully dense CuNi film shows hydrophilicity. This is predominately ascribed to the surface roughness of the two films. The HER activity of the two prepared CuNi films were investigated in 1 M KOH solution at room temperature by polarization measurements and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technique. Porous CuNi exhibits an enhanced catalysis for HER with respect to fully dense CuNi. The HER kinetics for porous film is processed by the Volmer–Heyrovsky reaction, whereas the fully dense counterpart is Volmer-limited. This study presents a clear comparison of HER behavior between porous and fully dense CuNi films.

In this study, Cu-Sn alloys with varying compositions were synthesized using nickel sulfate as a structure-directing agent during electrodeposition. The crystalline structure of the alloys and the influence of nickel sulfate on the morphology were systematically investigated. The corrosion behavior of these alloys was examined in 3.5 wt.% NaCl and 0.1 M HNO₃ solutions using kinetic potential polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques. X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were employed to analyze the corrosion products of the alloys. The result revealed that the absolute value of corrosion potential of Cu₄₃Sn₅₇ alloy prepared by adding nickel sulfate in 3.5 wt. % NaCl solution decreased from 0.259 V to 0.186 V, and the corrosion current density decreased from 9.456 × 10⁻⁶ mA cm⁻² to 1.248 × 10⁻⁶ mA cm⁻². In 0.1 M HNO₃ solution, the absolute values of corrosion potential of Cu₄₃Sn₅₇ alloy prepared by adding nickel sulfate decreased from 0.065 V to 0.028 V, and the corrosion current density decreased from 5.384 × 10⁻⁵ mA cm⁻² to 2.63 × 10⁻⁵ mA cm⁻². This research contributes to the understanding of how structural modification affects the electrochemical performance of Cu-Sn alloys.

The morphology and distribution of intermetallic compounds (IMCs), such as Al₆Mn, Al₂Cu, and Al₁₂Fe₃Si₂, play a critical role in determining the mechanical properties of 3xxx series aluminum alloys. In this study, the compressive behavior of these IMCs was systematically investigated using the modified embedded atom method (MEAM) potential and the large-scale atomic/molecular massively parallel simulator (LAMMPS) under various temperatures and strain rates. The results show that as the temperature increases from 623 K to 823 K, both the compressive strength and elastic modulus of the IMCs decrease significantly. Al₁₂Fe₃Si₂ exhibits the lowest compressive strength, ranging from 1.1 to 9.8 GPa, while Al₂Cu demonstrates the highest compressive strength, ranging from 3.9 to 19.8 GPa. Within this temperature range, Al₆Mn and Al₃Fe show relatively poor stability. At a strain rate of 1 × 10¹⁰ s⁻¹, the thermal sensitivity coefficients for compressive strength are 0.010 and 0.008, and those for elastic modulus are 0.173 and 0.126, respectively. In contrast, Al₂Cu exhibits the best stability, with thermal sensitivity coefficients of 0.005 for compressive strength and 0.041 for elastic modulus. Furthermore, the influence of strain rate diminishes notably under lower temperatures. Across the entire temperature range, Al₂Cu displays the highest overall stability, with a strain rate sensitivity index ranging from 0.3527 to 0.3738.

We present a surface modification technique that turns CuNi foam films with a high contact angle and non-sticking property into a sticky surface. By decorating with mesh-like biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) and adjusting the surface parameters, the surface exhibits water-retaining capability even when being held upside down. The wetting transition process of droplets falling on its surface were systematically studied using the finite element simulation method. It is found that the liquid filled the surface microstructure and curvy three-phase contact line. Moreover, we experimentally demonstrated that this surface can be further applied to capture underwater air bubbles.