Multilayer metal composites have great application prospects in automobiles, ships, aircraft and other manufacturing industries, which reveal their superior strength, toughness, ductility, fatigue lifetime, superplasticity and formability. This paper presents the various mechanical properties, deformation characteristics and strengthening–toughening mechanisms of laminated metal matrix composites during the loading and deformation process, and that super-high mechanical properties can be obtained by adjusting the fabrication process and structure parameters. In the macroscale, the interface bonding status and layer thickness can effectively affect the fracture, impact toughness and tensile fracture elongation of laminated metal matrix composites, and the ductility and toughness cannot be fitting to the rule of mixture (ROM). However, the elastic properties, yield strength and ultimate strength basically follow the rule of mixture. In the microscale, the mechanical properties, deformation characteristics, fracture behavior and toughening mechanisms of laminated composites reveal the obvious size effect.

Carbon-coated silica nanoparticles anchored on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (SiO2@C/MWNT composite) were synthesized via a simple and facile sol-gel method followed by heat treatment. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM) studies confirmed densely anchoring the carbon-coated SiO2 nanoparticles onto a flexible MWNT conductive network, which facilitated fast electron and lithium-ion transport and improved structural stability of the composite. As prepared, ternary composite anode showed superior cyclability and rate capability compared to a carbon-coated silica counterpart without MWNT (SiO2@C). The SiO2@C/MWNT composite exhibited a high reversible discharge capacity of 744 mAh g−1 at the second discharge cycle conducted at a current density of 100 mA g−1 as well as an excellent rate capability, delivering a capacity of 475 mAh g−1 even at 1000 mA g−1. This enhanced electrochemical performance of SiO2@C/MWNT ternary composite anode was associated with its unique core-shell and networking structure and a strong mutual synergistic effect among the individual components.