The team of Shanghai Jiaotong University successfully developed stainless magnesium alloy based on material genetic engineering.

Magnesium alloy is the lightest metal structural material. Because of its low density, high specific strength and good damping performance, magnesium alloy has a broad application prospect in aerospace, electronic communications, automobile transportation and other fields. However, due to the active chemical properties of magnesium, magnesium alloy components are prone to corrosion, especially in high-temperature, humid and hot marine environment, which greatly restricts the application of magnesium alloy in harsh environment.

Aiming at the bottleneck problem of easy corrosion of magnesium alloy, the magnesium alloy research team led by Professor Zeng Xiaoqin of Shanghai Jiaotong University combines high-throughput computing with machine learning technology based on the idea of material genetic engineering. based on the thermodynamic and kinetic nature of magnesium alloy corrosion, the phase selection and composition optimization design of low potential difference alloy were realized, and the design principle of stainless magnesium alloy was put forward. A world-leading stainless magnesium alloy has been successfully developed, and its salt spray corrosion rate is only 1% of that of traditional magnesium alloy (0.038 mg/ cm2 ·day),). The corrosion resistance of stainless magnesium alloy is equivalent to that of rust-proof aluminum alloy used in marine equipment. The test shows that after 12 months of simulated seawater immersion experiment, the stainless magnesium sample still maintains good surface quality, while the ordinary magnesium alloy has long been corroded and fragmented. Further tests showed that even in the extreme environment of acid salt spray (pH=3.5), stainless magnesium showed high corrosion resistance and stability, and the corrosion rate was only 0.161 mg/cm2day. Compared with the high-performance corrosion-resistant magnesium alloys which have been widely used abroad, the corrosion resistance of stainless magnesium alloys is nearly 10 times higher than that of high-performance corrosion-resistant magnesium alloys with similar mechanical properties.

The research team is vigorously promoting the application of stainless magnesium alloy in aerospace, marine equipment, rail transit and other fields, and further improve the trial production and evaluation of certificates. The successful development of stainless magnesium alloy will play an important role in the lightweight and high performance of major equipment in China, greatly prolong the service life and storage life of major equipment, and make the environmental service performance of lightweight equipment in China reach the leading level in the world.