Corrosion behavior and surface treatment of superlight Mg–Li alloys

Abstract Mg–Li alloy, as a superlight metallic engineering material, shows great potential in the fields of aerospace and military due to its high specific strength, better formability, and excellent electromagnetic shielding performance. The research process of Mg–Li alloys is reviewed and three main problems are pointed out. Aimed at the poor corrosion resistance of Mg–Li alloys, the corrosion behavior is mainly summarized. The surface treatment technologies, including electroplating, electroless plating, plasma spraying, molten salt replacement, conversion coating, anodizing, micro-arc oxidation, organic coating, and organic–inorganic hybrid coating, are introduced in detail. Finally, the future development of corrosion and protection of Mg–Li alloys is discussed.