Ongoing industrial demand for lightweight materials has spiked the research interest in aluminium-based metal matrix composites for its specific properties. The amount of scientific publication available on the matter has led to the vast production of knowledge, which highlights the need for a systematic assessment if further progress is expected. In this paper, a systematic review of the published literature is conducted, according to the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses, on the Scopus and Web of Science databases were used in the literature search, which was completed on the 29 August 2020. The data of the research work is structured in the particle pre-processing stage and the melt processing stage. The present review clarifies the combined pair-wise effect of particles and the melt treatment performed on their wettability or dispersive or de-agglomerative capability, which allows to achieve their final mechanical properties.This work was supported by PTDC/EMEEME/30967/2017 and NORTE-0145-FEDER030967, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization (COMPETE 2020), under Portugal 2020, and by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia—FCT I.P. national funds. Also, this work was supported by Portuguese FCT, under the reference project UIDB/04436/2020, Stimulus of Scientific Employment Application CEECIND/03991/2017, research doctoral Grant 2020.08564.BD
