Magnesium alloys have emerged as promising light weight materials due to their low density, high specific strength, excellent machinability, and superior damping capacity, making them ideal for aerospace, automotive, and electronics applications. However, broader use of magnesium alloys is limited by poor thermo-mechanical performance, corrosion susceptibility, and low formability at room temperature. The addition of rare-earth elements such as gadolinium, yttrium, and neodymium has meaningfully improved these limitations, enhancing the overall performance of magnesium alloys. This review highlights recent advancements in rare-earth magnesium alloys, focusing on their improved thermo-mechanical properties, microstructural evolution, crystallization behavior, and texture development. Herein, strengthening mechanisms associated with rare-earth additions are discussed in detail. Furthermore, the article explores growing relevance of these alloys in advanced applications, including biomedical implants, IoT devices, aerospace structures, defense systems, and general engineering. With their enhanced mechanical and functional properties, rare-earth magnesium alloys represent a new generation of high-performance, functional materials poised to drive innovation across multiple technology sectors.

Polyanion-based materials are considered one of the most attractive and promising cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to their good stability, safety, cost-effectiveness, suitable voltages, and minimal environmental impact. However, these materials suffer from poor rate capability and low-temperature performance owing to limited electronic and ionic conductivity, which restricts their practical applicability. Recent developments, such as coating material particles with carbon or a conductive polymer, crystal deformation through the doping of foreign metal ions, and the production of nanostructured materials, have significantly enhanced the electrochemical performances of these materials. The successful applications of polyanion-based materials, especially in lithium-ion batteries, have been extensively reported. This comprehensive review discusses the current progress in crystal deformation in polyanion-based cathode materials, including phosphates, fluorophosphates, pyrophosphates, borates, silicates, sulfates, fluorosilicates, and oxalates. Therefore, this review provides detailed discussions on their synthesis strategies, electrochemical performance, and the doping of various ions.