High yield strength lightweight polymer-metal hybrid articles

A metal-clad polymer article comprising:

• a polymeric material with or without particulate addition, said polymeric material defining a permanent substrate;
• a metallic material covering at least part of a surface of said polymeric material, said metallic material having a microstructure which, at least in part, is at least one of fine-grained with an average grain size between 2 and 5,000 nm and amorphous;
• with or without at least one intermediate layer between said polymeric material and said metallic material;
• and
• wherein, at room temperature, a stress on said polymeric material at a strain of 0.4% is at least 65 MPa.

A method for preparing a metal-clad polymer article comprising:

• providing a metallic material having a microstructure which, at least in part, is at least one of fine-grained with an average grain size between 2 and 5,000 nm and amorphous;
• selecting a polymeric material which, at the strain equivalent to the elastic limit of the metallic material, has a yield stress of at least 60% of the ultimate tensile strength of the polymeric material at a predetermined operating temperature;
• and
• applying the metallic material to at least part of the polymeric material to form a light-weight article.