Recent progress in magnesium–lithium alloys

Magnesium–lithium base alloy is one of the lightest metallic engineering materials with a density of 1·35–1·65 g cm−3, which is referred to as superlight materials. It has become an attractive material in the fields of aerospace, automobiles, portable electronics, etc. In this paper, the developing history and recent progress of superlight magnesium–lithium base alloys are reviewed. The progress on molten electrolysis preparation, processing technologies and surface processing technologies are introduced, and future research directions are suggested based on the current research progress.