Enhancement of energy absorption in Mg–3Al–1Zn foam with 316L hollow spheres

In this study, an Mg–3Al–1Zn composite foam with 316L hollow spheres as the space holders is fabricated via gas pressure infiltration. Owing to the low solubility of iron in the magnesium matrix, the interfaces between the matrix and spheres do not form brittle intermetallic phases. Without brittle phases, smooth compression curves are observed in the plateau region. After artificial aging, the energy absorption capacity per unit weight reaches 45 J/g, which improve by more than 10% compared to the other composite foams with a density below 2 g/cm³ reported thus far. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]