The mechanical properties of iron-rich Al–Si alloy is limited by the existence of plenty of the iron-rich phase (β-Al₅FeSi), whose unfavorable morphology not only splits the matrix but also causes both stress concentration and interface mismatch with the Al matrix. The effect of the cooling rate on the tensile properties of Fe-rich Al–Si alloy was studied by the melt spinning method at different rotating speeds. At the traditional casting cooling rate of ~10 K/s, the size of the needle-like β-Al₅FeSi phase is about 80 μm. In contrast, the size of the β-Al₅FeSi phase is reduced to 500 nm and the morphology changes to a granular morphology with the high cooling rate of ~10⁴ K/s. With the increase of the cooling rate, the morphology of the β-Al₅FeSi phase is optimized, meanwhile the tensile properties of Fe-rich Al–Si alloy are greatly improved. The improved tensile properties of the Fe-rich Al-Si alloy is attributed to the combination of Fe-rich reinforced particles and the granular silicon phase provided by the high cooling rate of the melt spinning method.

Mg-Zn-Ca metallic glass (MG) is effective for degrading azo dyes; however, the related surface evolution and degradation mechanisms are little known. We comparatively investigated the initial surface corrosion morphologies of melt-spun Mg₆₆Zn₃₀Ca₄ MG in deionized water and artificial seawater. It was found that the basic corrosion behavior of the MG was the same, except that the corrosion process was accelerated in seawater. The presence of NaCl obviously promotes the formation of nano-ZnO on the surface of ribbons, causing the rapid degradation of azo dyes due to the photocatalytic effect. The degradation efficiency when combined with 3.5 wt % NaCl was over 100 times higher than that without NaCl. This indicates that Mg-Zn-Ca MG ribbons are effective additives for the degradation of azo dyes in seawater.

Magnesium-based bulk metallic glass matrix composites (BMGMCs) have better plasticity than the corresponding bulk metallic glasses (BMGs); however, their strength and density are often compromised due to the fact that the effective reinforcement phase is mostly plastic heavy metal. For lightweight SiC-particle reinforced BMGMCs, interface wettability and the sharpness of the particles often reduce the strengthening effect. In this work, SiC particles were coated with a thin Cu coating by electroless plating, and added to Mg₅₄Cu_26.5Ag_8.5Gd₁₁ melt in an amount of 5 wt % to prepare a BMGMC. The microstructure of the interface, mechanical behavior and fracture morphology of the BMGMC were studied by scanning electron microscopy and quasi-static compression testing. The results showed that the Cu coating improved the wettability between SiC and the matrix alloy without obvious interfacial reactions, leading to the dispersion of SiC particles in the matrix. The addition of Cu-coated SiC particles improved the plastic deformation ability of Mg₅₄Cu_26.5Ag_8.5Gd₁₁ BMG, proving that electroless plating was an effective method for controlling the interface microstructure and mechanical behavior of BMGMCs.

Ti-based bulk metallic glass (BMG) alloys have attracted widespread attention due to their strong glass forming ability, high specific strength, and good corrosion resistance. However, the poor plasticity of BMGs limits their further application in the aerospace and aircraft fields, as well as others. We optimized the composition of SiC-reinforced, Ti-based metallic glass matrix composites (MGMCs) through finite element modeling (FEM). FEM of MGMCs containing irregularly shaped SiC particles with different contents was conducted. Stress and strain analyses were conducted to evaluate the effect of the particle volume fraction on the mechanical behavior of MGMCs, and an optimization value of 30% was obtained, which is conducive to plasticity improvement. Arc melting copper mold injection casting was used to verify the optimized SiC content. The results show that the electroless nickel plating treatment effectively improves the wettability between SiC particles and the amorphous matrix, enabling the successful preparation of SiC/MGMC with a volume fraction of 29.5% through traditional injection casting. The volume fraction of SiC plays a crucial role in the transition of fracture mode from splitting to shear in MGMCs. After adding lightweight SiC particles, the yield strength, plasticity, modulus, and specific strength were improved by 25%, 1471%, 46%, and 33%, indicating that the use of nickel-plated SiC particles in MGMCs is an effective strengthening and toughening method for BMGs.

The formation of in situ AlN-TiN-TiB₂/Al composite inoculants, which contain multi-phase refiner particles including AlN, TiN, TiB₂, Al₃Ti, and α-Al, was investigated using nitrogen gas injection. The effects of the main preparation parameters such as nitriding temperature, nitriding time, Ti content in melts, on the microstructure and grain refinement of in situ AlN-TiN-TiB₂/Al composite inoculants were studied. The shape, content and size of different ceramic particles in the inoculants can be tuned by controlling the nitriding temperature and time, inducing excellent refining and reinforcing effects on pure aluminum. As a result, the average grain size of pure aluminum can be reduced to about 122 ± 22 μm from original 1010 ± 80 μm by adding 0.3 wt % inoculants. The mechanical properties including the tensile strength, yield strength and microhardness of the refined as-cast pure aluminum are also improved.