Research progress on micro-arc oxidation of Mg-Li alloys: A review

To date, Mg-Li alloys still face significant challenges in practical engineering applications, with insufficient corrosion resistance persisting as a major issue and a critical limitation. Micro-arc oxidation has shown remarkable effectiveness in boosting the corrosion resistance, wear resistance, and overall functionality of the Mg-Li alloy. The combination of MAO with other surface treatment methods to address the porous nature of the coating can substantially improve its corrosion resistance, wear resistance, and biocompatibility. Such progress is expected to facilitate the widespread adoption of Mg-Li alloys in sectors such as biomedicine, aerospace, automotive manufacturing, and digital technologies. This paper, based on the latest research achievements in MAO of Mg-Li alloys, summarizes the critical factors impacting MAO coating performance, highlights recent progress in post-treatment methods for fabricating composite coatings, reviews the functional properties of MAO coatings for wide-ranging applications, and provides an outlook on future research directions.