High-conductivity binary Mg-Zn sheet processed by cold rolling and subsequent aging

In this work, Mg-Zn sheets with high conductivity, refined grain structure and acceptable strength were successfully developed by cold rolling and the following aging treatment. Rolling process decreased the electrical conductivity of the extruded sheet, while the following aging would improve the corresponding conductivity remarkably. The obtained highest electrical conductivity of the Mg-Zn sheet was 20.01 (106 S m−1), noting electrical conductivity of the pure Mg is 22.8 (106 S m−1). Cold rolling and aging treatment induced static recrystallization and the grain size was greatly refined. The mean grain size of the 18% cold rolled alloy was reduced to about 8 μm after aging treatment, much smaller than the original grain size (about 50 μm in average). Moreover, peak micro-hardness of the rolled alloys could reach as high as 70 HV during aging. Specially, basal texture weakening happened for largely cold rolled and aged alloy, which would contribute to increase electrical conductivity of the sheet; texture weakening was thus considered as a new noble method to develop high-quality thermal transportation Mg alloys.