[Latest Discovery and Innovation] The reporter learned from the Institute of Metals of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on the 30th that the researchers of the Institute cooperated with domestic and foreign scientific research teams to invent a kind of bionic material with high light, high strength and high damping properties - Mg-MAX phase bionic cermet. The research results were recently published in Materials Today and have applied for invention patents. Inspired by the ingenious structure of natural biological materials such as shells and bones in nature, the researchers of the Institute of Metals of the Chinese Academy of Sciences selected MAX phase ceramics with both metal and ceramic properties and good wettability with magnesium interface as components, and peeled the MAX phase into submicron scale flakes by using the controlled ball milling process in the atmosphere containing oxygen, and then realized the optimal directional arrangement of ceramic flakes by vacuum filtration, Thus, the magnesium melt is infiltrated into the partially sintered porous ceramic skeleton, and a new type of Mg-MAX phase biomimetic cermet material with ultra-fine three-dimensional interpenetrating shell-like structure is developed. It is reported that under the condition that the density of the new bionic cermet material is equivalent to that of aluminum alloy (2.79g · cm ^ - 3), its compressive and flexural strength at room temperature is more than 1 MPa (GPa), and even at 200 ℃, its strength is still close to 700 MPa (MPa), which is significantly higher than that of each component and other magnesium-ceramic composites, and at the same time, it has obtained an ultra-high specific strength of more than 350 MPa/g · cm ^ - 3, which is higher than that of most bulk magnesium and magnesium alloys Ceramics and other metal-ceramic composites. The bionic cermet exhibits excellent damping performance and good fracture toughness over a single magnesium component, and has unique advantages in bearing and vibration reduction. It is expected to be applied in aerospace, precision instruments and other fields. Moreover, the bionic design idea can also provide beneficial enlightenment for the development of new high-performance cermet materials. (Xinhua News Agency)