Uses Of Molybdenum

Since molybdenum has many excellent properties such as high strength, high wear resistance, high melting point, low expansion coefficient, good electrical and thermal conductivity, it is widely used in metallurgy, electronics, electric light source, aerospace, machinery, chemical industry, automotive and other industrial sectors, and is considered to be the most promising high-temperature structural material at present. In addition, most molybdenum compounds are non-toxic, so molybdenum can be used to replace toxic metals, such as replacing chromium in anticorrosives, antimony in flame retardants and smoke suppressants.

The most important use of molybdenum in the iron and steel industry is the smelting of alloy steels, because molybdenum lowers the eutectic decomposition temperature of steel and extends the range of quenching temperatures of steel, thus affecting the depth of quenching and hardening of steel. Molybdenum is used in conjunction with chromium, nickel, vanadium, etc., to provide steel with a uniform crystalline organization, to improve the elastic limit, wear resistance and impact strength of steel, to prevent tempering embrittlement, and to prevent high-temperature graphitization of carbon and other properties. Molybdenum is widely used in smelting structural, heat-resistant and magnetic steel and other series of steel. Molybdenum is also used in alloy cast iron, can make gray iron grain refinement, and can change the performance of gray iron at high temperature, improve wear resistance. Whether in steel or cast iron, molybdenum is added in the form of ferromolybdenum or molybdenum oxide, and there is little reason to add calcium molybdate form. For titanium alloys used in aerospace materials, molybdenum is added in the form of molybdenum-aluminum or molybdenum-vanadium-aluminum intermediate alloys.