Recent progress in porous Mg-based foam preparation approaches: effect of processing parameters on structure and mechanical property

Porous metals are a class of cellular materials with lightweight and unique mechanical, electrical, thermal, physical and acoustic characteristics. Magnesium and magnesium alloy foams have exhibited excellent advantages. In particular, open-cell Mg-based foams (porous Mg/Mg alloy foams) have been used for bioresorbable implants, CO 2 trapping systems, filters, heat exchangers, absorbent panels and many other applications. While significant progress has been taken in producing porous Mg-based foams with good structure–property relations, but with a large number of different processing parameters, different mechanical properties and pore morphologies of each porous Mg-based foam, it is essential to understand the individual effects of each aspect of the parameters. Therefore, the present article summarized the effects of available processing parameters on the structure and mechanical properties of the porous Mg-based foams. Finally, the future perspectives to enhance the structure and properties of porous Mg/Mg alloy foams were discussed.