Why is Molybdenum Used in X Rays

Molybdenum is a silver gray refractory metal, which is mainly used in the X-rays, iron and steel industry, most of which are directly used for steelmaking or cast iron in the form of industrial molybdenum oxide in the form of molybdenum oxide. The content of molybdenum in low alloy steel is not more than 1%, but the consumption of molybdenum in this area is about 50% of the consumption of molybdenum. 

The addition of molybdenum in cast iron can improve the strength and wear resistance of iron. The nickel based superalloy with 18% molybdenum has the characteristics of high melting point, low density and low thermal expansion coefficient. It is used to make various high temperature components in aviation and space. Molybdenum is widely used in electronic devices such as electronic tubes, transistors and rectifiers. Molybdenum oxide and molybdate are chemical compounds.

Molybdenum is a metal element found relatively late. It was distilled from molybdenite by Swedish chemist in 1792. Molybdenum has been widely used in industry due to its high strength, high melting point, corrosion resistance and wear resistance.

In metallurgical industry, moly sheet is used as an additive in the production of all kinds of alloy steel, or with tungsten, nickel, cobalt, zirconium, titanium, vanadium, rhenium and so on, in order to improve its high temperature strength, wear resistance and corrosion resistance. Molybdenum alloy steels are used to make transport equipment, locomotives, industrial machinery and various instruments. Some 4% to 5% stainless steel containing molybdenum is used to produce precision chemical instruments and equipment used in seawater environment. High speed steel containing 4% to 9.5% can produce high speed cutting tools. Molybdenum and nickel and chromium alloys are used to manufacture metal parts of aircraft, corrosion resistant parts of locomotives and automobiles. Alloys of molybdenum and tungsten, chromium and vanadium are used for making alloy components and components of warships, tanks, guns, rockets and satellites.

Metal molybdenum is widely used as heating material and structural material for high temperature electric furnace, large electrode and grid of vacuum tube, semiconductor and electric light source material. Because the thermal neutron capture cross section of molybdenum is small and has high persistence strength, it can also be used as a structural material for nuclear reactors.

Molybdenum is used mainly in X-rays, lubricants, catalysts and pigments in chemical industry. Molybdenum disulfide has good lubrication performance at high temperature and high pressure because of its lamellar crystal structure and its surface chemical properties. It is widely used as an additive in oil. Molybdenum is a catalyst component for hydrogen production desulfurization and other petroleum refining processes. It is used in the redox reaction of ethanol, formaldehyde and oil-based chemicals. Molybdenum orange is an important pigment. The chemical products of molybdenum are widely used in dyes, ink, color precipitation dyes and anticorrosive primers.

Molybdenum compounds are also widely used in agricultural fertilizers.

The abundance of molybdenum in the crust is about 1×10-6, and the highest content of molybdenum in granite is 2×10-6 in magmatic rocks. Molybdenum belongs to transitional ferric elements in geochemical classification. Molybdenum is mainly combined with sulfur to form molybdenite in the ore forming process.

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