In , Elm of Sweden used linseed oil blended charcoal and molybdic acid mixture for sealed burning, and molybdenum was acquired. Molybdenum is a kind of silver-white metal. It is hard and tough and is free from the erosion of the air at room temperature. It doesn&#;t have a chemical reaction with hydrochloric acid or hydrofluoric acid. Molybdenum is mainly used in the steel industry (80%), followed by its applications in the chemical field, which roughly accounts for 10%. In addition, molybdenum is also used in electrical and electronic technology, medicine and agriculture, and other fields.
If you want to learn more, please visit our website YOUBO.
In the steel field, molybdenum is mainly used for the production of alloy steel, stainless steel, tool steel, high-speed steel, cast iron, and roll. The use of molybdenum as an additive can enhance the strength and toughness, corrosion resistance, and wear resistance of steel, improve the hardenability, weldability, and heat-resistance of steel. The formation of molybdenum alloy by adding other elements to molybdenum, such as molybdenum lanthanum alloy and TZM alloy, has a better performance than pure molybdenum.
In the chemical field, molybdenum can be used as lubricants, catalysts, pigments, flame retardants and smoke suppressants, and corrosion inhibitors of organic polymer. The main products include molybdenum dioxide, molybdenum yellow, molybdate, ammonium paramolybdate.
Molybdenum has good electrical conductivity and high-temperature resistance. Its thermal expansion coefficient is similar to that of glass. It&#;s widely used in the production of the core wire, lead wire, hook, and other components of spiral filament. Molybdenum wire is also the ideal electrode wire for a cutting tool machine, which can cut a variety of steel and carbide. Its processing is stable, which can effectively improve the precision of the mold.
Molybdenum is one of the essential trace elements in the human body. The proper amount of molybdenum can promote the development of the human body, enhance the storage of oxygen in the body and inhibit tumors. Ammonium molybdate is used as an active ingredient of medicines. In animal bodies, molybdenum is a molybdenum enzyme composition. Adding the molybdenum additives to the feed can achieve the goal of meeting the needs of animals. Molybdenum is also one of the essential trace elements for plant growth. Seeding using ammonium molybdenum can greatly increase the yield of flowers.
molybdenum (Mo), chemical element, silver-gray refractory metal of Group 6 (VIb) of the periodic table, used to impart superior strength to steel and other alloys at high temperature.
The Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele had demonstrated (c. ) that the mineral molybdaina (now molybdenite), for a long time thought to be a lead ore or graphite, certainly contains sulfur and possibly a previously unknown metal. At Scheele&#;s suggestion, Peter Jacob Hjelm, another Swedish chemist, successfully isolated the metal () and named it molybdenum, from the Greek molybdos, &#;lead.&#;
Britannica Quiz
118 Names and Symbols of the Periodic Table Quiz
Molybdenum is not found free in nature. A relatively rare element, it is about as abundant as tungsten, which it resembles. For molybdenum the chief ore is molybdenite&#;molybdenum disulfide, MoS2&#;but molybdates such as lead molybdate, PbMoO4 (wulfenite), and MgMoO4 are also found. Most commercial production is from ores containing the mineral molybdenite. The concentrated mineral is usually roasted in an excess of air to yield molybdenum trioxide (MoO3), also called technical molybdic oxide, which, after purification, can be reduced with hydrogen to the metal. Subsequent treatment depends on the ultimate use of molybdenum. Molybdenum may be added to steel in the furnace in the form of either technical oxide or ferromolybdenum. Ferromolybdenum (containing at least 60 percent molybdenum) is produced by igniting a mixture of technical oxide and iron oxide. Molybdenum metal is produced in the form of a powder by hydrogen reduction of chemically pure molybdic oxide or ammonium molybdate, (NH4)2MoO4. The powder is converted to massive metal by the powder-metallurgy process or by the arc-casting process.
Want more information on Molybdenum Powder Uses? Feel free to contact us.
Molybdenum-base alloys and the metal itself have useful strength at temperatures above which most other metals and alloys are molten. The major use of molybdenum, however, is as an alloying agent in the production of ferrous and nonferrous alloys, to which it uniquely contributes hot strength and corrosion resistance, e.g., in jet engines, combustion liners, and afterburner parts. It is one of the most effective elements for increasing hardenability of iron and steel, and it also contributes to the toughness of quenched and tempered steels. The high corrosion resistance needed in the stainless steels used for processing pharmaceuticals and in the chromium steels for automotive trim is uniquely enhanced by small additions of molybdenum. Metallic molybdenum has been used for such electric and electronic parts as filament supports, anodes, and grids. Rod or wire is used for heating elements in electric furnaces operating up to 1,700 °C (3,092 °F). Coatings of molybdenum adhere firmly to steel, iron, aluminum, and other metals and show excellent resistance to wear.
Molybdenum is rather resistant to attack by acids, except for mixtures of concentrated nitric and hydrofluoric acids, and it can be attacked rapidly by alkaline oxidizing melts, such as fused mixtures of potassium nitrate and sodium hydroxide or sodium peroxide; aqueous alkalies, however, are without effect. It is inert to oxygen at normal temperature but combines with it readily at red heat, to give the trioxides, and is attacked by fluorine at room temperature, to give the hexafluorides.
Are you a student? Get a special academic rate on Britannica Premium.
Learn MoreNatural molybdenum is a mixture of seven stable isotopes: molybdenum-92 (15.84 percent), molybdenum-94 (9.04 percent), molybdenum-95 (15.72 percent), molybdenum-96 (16.53 percent), molybdenum-97 (9.46 percent), molybdenum-98 (23.78 percent), and molybdenum-100 (9.13 percent). Molybdenum exhibits oxidation states of +2 to +6 and is considered to display the zero oxidation state in the carbonyl Mo(CO)6. Molybdenum(+6) appears in the trioxide, the most important compound, from which most of its other compounds are prepared, and in the molybdates (containing the anion MoO42&#;), used to produce pigments and dyes. Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), which resembles graphite, is used as a solid lubricant or as an additive to greases and oils. Molybdenum forms hard, refractory, and chemically inert interstitial compounds with boron, carbon, nitrogen, and silicon upon direct reaction with those elements at high temperatures.
Molybdenum is an essential trace element in plants; in legumes as a catalyst it assists bacteria in fixing nitrogen. Molybdenum trioxide and sodium molybdate (Na2MoO4) have been used as micronutrients.
The largest producers of molybdenum are China, the United States, Chile, Peru, Mexico, and Canada.
Contact us to discuss your requirements of Molybdenum Rod. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.
Element Propertiesatomic number42atomic weight95.94melting point2,610 °C (4,730 °F)boiling point5,560 °C (10,040 °F)specific gravity10.2 at 20 °C (68 °F)oxidation states0, +2, +3, +4, +5, +6electron configuration[Kr]4d55s1