Magnesium alloys, currently recognized as the lightest structural metallic material in practical engineering applications, have broad prospects for application in the aerospace field, where lightweight demands are increasing. However, the three major bottleneck issues, “relatively low absolute strength”, “ weak deformation capacity”, and “insufficient corrosion resistance”, greatly limit the application scope of traditional magnesium alloys. Based on a review of the latest application status of magnesium alloys in the aerospace field, this paper has elaborated on the research progress of high-strength, tough, and corrosion-resistant magnesium alloys and prospected the development trends of high-performance magnesium alloys in future aerospace applications.

The aerospace power subsystem, known as its “energy heart”, is responsible for key tasks such as efficient storage and accurate conversion of electrical energy. Its operational stability affects the smooth operation and overall effectiveness of each subsystem of the spacecraft. The increasing complexity of space missions and the intensification of extreme space environments have led to the need for continuous technological innovation and performance upgrades of power systems. Based on this, in this study, the materials and technologies development trends of solar cells, chemical batteries and other devices were reviewed domestically and abroad from the perspective of extreme environments, including radiation, alternating temperatures and high vacuum. Besides, the key challenges of power devices in the extreme aerospace environment were analyzed, and the potential aerospace mission application prospects were envisioned. This review provides a reference and inspiration for promoting the research and development of advanced aerospace power materials.

Carbon nanotube-reinforced aluminium matrix composite (CNT/Al) is an innovative lightweight structural material for aerospace and weapons equipment. Great progress has been made in its preparation and application technology in recent years. This paper has summarized the preparation technologies of CNT/Al composite and their engineering bottleneck. The preparation technology suitable for industrial production that combined flake powder metallurgy with the element alloying method was highlighted. The mechanical properties and the damping capacity at room temperature and high temperature for the large-size CNT/2A12Al composite were introduced. The strengthening and toughening mechanism and the strategies to simultaneously enhance strength and ductility were reviewed, such as CNT intragranular dispersion architecture and heterogeneous grain size architecture. The deformation processing, application technology of large-size CNT/Al composites, and the application prospect and future research focus were also discussed.

High-temperature titanium alloys allow broad application prospects in hypersonic aircraft. They have ideal lightweight and heat-resistant metallic materials, enhancing the performance and reliability of hypersonic aircraft in extreme flight environments, thus achieving higher speeds and longer flight distances. Considering the services of thermal structures in China’s hypersonic aircraft, starting from the characteristics of high-temperature titanium alloys, this paper has reviewed the latest development status of high-temperature titanium alloys domestically and abroad. It focused on introducing China’s independent research, development and application of 550-650 °C high-temperature titanium alloys. To achieve higher operating temperature requirements, the research and development of a new 700-750 °C high-temperature titanium alloy Ti750S was proposed, and the respective application directions and prospects of high-temperature titanium alloys for future hypersonic aircraft were prospected.

Silicon nitride ceramics comprehensively have excellent properties such as high strength, high elastic modulus, high-temperature resistance, thermal shock resistance, and low dielectric constant. They are the major candidate materials for high-temperature wave transmitting radome. Currently, research in silicon nitride-based ceramics and composites is popular. This paper has reviewed the research status of silicon nitride ceramics, SiALON ceramics, silicon oxynitride ceramics, nitrogen oxide ceramics, and their composite materials in the past five years. Through the combination of material design and different molding processes, including 3D printing, chemical vapor infiltration (CVI), and precursor impregnation cracking (PIP), the preparation of high-strength-low dielectric silicon nitride-based ceramic materials was acquired, which enables the selection of materials and design support for wavetransparent components of high-Mach vehicles.

Thermal protection systems are significantly important in modern aerospace engineering. When the new generation of vehicles evolves towards higher Mach flight speeds, there is an increasing demand for thermal protection systems that could combine high-temperature resistance, lightweight construction, and integrated thermal protection and insulation. This paper has reviewed the research progress on lightweight resin-based thermal protection materials domestically and internationally and analyzed their development trends in enhanced oxidation resistance, nanoporous structures, and gradient designs. Besides, this study has introduced the thermal protection and insulation mechanisms as well as the mechanical failure mechanisms of nanoporous resin-based materials, thus providing valuable insights for effective design and fabrication.

Lightweight design is a dominant development trend in advanced air defense missile systems. Resin matrix composites, with the advantages of being lightweight, high strength, high-temperature resistant, corrosion-resistant, and designable, play a key role in promoting the lightweight design of missiles. This paper has reviewed the research progress and current applications of thermoset and thermoplastic composites in air defense missiles. It comprehensively provides an overview of the application progress and development prospects of resin matrix composites in typical missile components, offering insights into the future development of these materials.

High entropy alloys have been newly developed in recent years, among which the refractory high entropy alloys obtain excellent high-temperature mechanical properties, thus showing great potential application as structural materials at ultra-high temperatures. However, their low oxidation resistance at high temperatures limits the practical engineering applications. The conventional way to enhance oxidation resistance is alloying elements such as Al, Cr, Si and so on, but the additional amount is usually restricted by other factors, which greatly limits the oxidation resistance performance. The multi-component characteristics of high-entropy alloys allow them to be more likely to alloy more oxidation resistance-promoting elements. In this paper, the recent progress in improving the oxidation resistance of high-entropy alloys was reviewed. The approaches to improve the oxidation resistance of refractory high-entropy alloys were prospected via adding Al, Cr and Si elements and the formation of antioxidant coatings.

Due to their high energy density and long life, Lithium-ion batteries are widely applied in fields such as aerospace and smart driving. Accurate estimation of the state of charge (SOC) of a battery is critical. In recent years, SOC estimation methods based on battery equivalent models have been widely used because oftheir advantages of accurate estimation and easy understanding. This paper has elaborated on the classification of battery equivalent models, SOC estimation algorithms, and factors affecting SOC estimation from three aspects. Firstly, the common types of battery models and their characteristics were analyzed; secondly, the commonly used SOC estimation techniques based on battery models were reviewed; finally, the factors affecting the accuracy of SOC estimation and possible solutions were analyzed. The summary of this paper provides references for future research.

To meet the lightweight requirements of the new generation of aerospace, obtaining the optimal heat treatment process parameter combination of in-situ TiB2/2219 composite for storage tanks to improve its comprehensive mechanical properties further has become an urgent problem. In this study, the effect of solution and ageing process on tensile properties of in-situ TiB2/2219 composite was systematically studied through advanced characterization techniques and analysis of tensile test data at room temperature was conducted. The results show that the compositehas the highest hardness of 108 HV at 535 ℃, 1.5 h solution. Pre-stretch can increase the dislocation density, provide more nucleation sites for θ' phase, improve the nucleation rate, and increase the volume fraction of the precipitated phase during ageing. To promote the formation of atomic clusters, increase the nucleation site of the precipitated phase, and further improve the nucleation efficiency of θ' phase, a two-stage ageing system was designed. After ageing at 100 ℃× 8 h and 160 ℃ ×13 h, the yield strength and tensile strength of the composite increased by 40.5% and 12.5%, respectively, while the fracture strain remained 8.0%. The results have accumulated effective experimental data and thus support the engineering application of in-situ aluminum matrix composites for space storage tanks.

With the arrival of the 5G era, electromagnetic pollution has also become a new public concern, which has already received extensive attention from the social and scientific communities. Thus, it’s significant to develop materials with efficient microwave absorption properties. In this paper, a simple preparation method was used to uniformly load spherical ZIF-67 on graphene nanosheets, and a novel electromagnetic wave absorbing material consisting of twodimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) materials was achieved after high-temperature annealing (spherical ZIF-67 derived carbon spheres loaded on graphene, Co@C/GNs ). Conductivity loss, natural resonance and exchange resonance in the low and middle-frequency bands, as well as polarization loss and eddy current loss in the high-frequency band, can together enhance the effective absorption of electromagnetic waves. Among them, wave absorbers with 5% graphene by mass of ZIF-67 have the best wave absorbing performance, with the minimum reflection loss value of − 31.66 dB at a matching thickness of 2.5 mm and the effective bandwidth up to 5.56 GHz at a matching thickness of 1.5 mm. This work provides an alternative option for the preparation of electromagnetic absorbing composites.

To investigate the mechanical properties of phenolic resin-modified epoxy resin in different structures and their effects on the friction and wear coating properties, and acquire theoretical support for the design of highperformance, long-life bonded solid lubricating coatings, the relationship between crosslinking density and mechanical properties of modified epoxy resin (EP)/boron phenolic resin (FBB) and epoxy resin (EP)/linear phenolic resin (SG) was analyzed using dynamic thermomechanical property testing (DMA) and V-block friction and wear testing. The influence of different crosslinking density resins of the coating was also investigated. The results showed that when the ratio of epoxy resin/phenolic resin increases, the crosslinking density of the resin gradually decreases, while the elastic modulus first increases before it decreases. When the ratio is 5:1, the elastic modulus reaches its maximum, and the wear resistance life is the longest. Linear phenolic (SG) modified epoxy resin (EP) has a lower crosslink density at the maximum elastic modulus, resulting in a longer wear resistance life. A resin system with suitable crosslinking density can significantly improve the wear resistance life of coatings. By synthesizing resin systems with suitable cross-linking density, the wear resistance life of bonded solid lubricating coatings can be considerably enhanced, providing a scientific basis for developing high-performance coatings with longer life.