Revealing the influence of solution and pre-deformation treatment on the corrosion resistance of Y-modified AZ91 magnesium alloy for lithium-ion battery shell

The usage of Mg–Al–Zn alloys for lithium-ion battery shell is able to achieve further lightweight of electric vehicles, and their corrosion resistance would highly determine the service life. In this work, therefore, a Y-modified AZ91 magnesium alloy (AZ91-0.5Y) was first prepared by conventional casting and following hot extrusion, and the influence of solution treatment (ST) and subsequent pre-deformation (SP) treatments on its electrochemical corrosion and stress corrosion cracking (SCC) resistance in 1 mol/L LiPF6 electrolyte were then investigated. The results indicated that the presence of large lamellar or rod-like β-Mg17Al12 phase in as-extruded AZ91-0.5Y alloy would lead to serious micro-galvanic corrosion and SCC. After solution treatment, the β-Mg17Al12 phase almost completely dissolved into Mg matrix, weakening the micro-galvanic corrosion and anodic dissolution (AD) and hydrogen embrittlement (HE) effect. Further, the subsequent pre-deformation treatment could introduce dislocation, more precipitation of Al2Y phase, massive twins and optimized texture, leading to the improved corrosion resistance and mechanical strength as well as the formation of well-integrated protective corrosion product film MgF2 with low porosity. As a result, the corrosion and SCC resistance of as-extruded, ST and SP specimens is ordered from low to high.