A research collaboration was conducted on Zr-based bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) by the team led by Chair Professor Yi Li, the team led by Associate Professor Zhen-Duo Wu, and Dongguan Yihao Metal Materials Technology Co., Ltd. This work reveals the crucial role of trace yttrium (Y) addition in enhancing the glass-forming ability (GFA), which can strongly promote the commercial application of the relevant materials. To date, Dongguan Yihao Metal Materials Technology Co., Ltd. has applied similar types of products to the key hinge materials in Huawei’s advanced foldable smartphones, and has established industry-university-research cooperation with CityUHK (DG) in related fields.

Source：Xie, J., Zhou, W., Chu, Y., Gao, K., Xu, X., Zhu, X., Li, W., Wu, Z., & Li, Y. (2025). On the scavenging and alloying effects of Y in the oxygen-contaminated Zr-based bulk metallic glass. Acta Materialia.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2025.121126