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Molybdenum in iron, steel and other metal alloys

More than 80% of molybdenum is used in metal alloying, enhancing the properties of carbon, stainless and tool steels, cast irons and nickel-based alloys, among others. The specific benefits of molybdenum alloying vary with the type of base metal, often requiring only a small addition to achieve significant improvements. For instance, just 2% molybdenum in Type 316 stainless steel greatly increases its corrosion resistance.

Carbon steels
No metal is produced in greater volumes than carbon steel, which is widely used in manufacturing, construction, energy generation, and transportation. Adding molybdenum to carbon steels provides numerous benefits: it helps control microstructure, improves hardenability, reduces temper embrittlement and increases resistance to hydrogen attack and sulfide stress cracking. Additionally, molybdenum boosts elevated temperature strength and enhances weldability, making carbon steel even more versatile and reliable for various applications.

Tool steels
Tool steels are used for working, cutting, and forming metals as well as molding plastics. They require high hardness and strength combined with good toughness to withstand demanding workloads. Molybdenum increases both the hardness and wear resistance of tool steels, ensuring a long tool life.

Cast irons
Iron alloys containing more than 2 percent carbon are known as "cast iron alloys” and are used to produce near-net shape components. Cast iron is widely used in structural applications, mining and mineral processing, automotive industries, power generation, and high-temperature environments. Molybdenum is added to cast iron to enhance its strength, hardness, and heat resistance, as well as to control the microstructure during austempering treatments

Stainless steels 
Stainless steels contain at least 10.5% chromium, which reacts with oxygen to form a passive layer that resists corrosion. Molybdenum improves the stability of this passive layer, further enhancing corrosion resistance, especially to localized corrosion such as pitting and crevice corrosion in chloride-containing environments. Stainless steels are widely used in all kinds of processing industries, including chemical, pharmaceutical, oil and gas, pulp and paper, and food and beverage.  Other applications are found in infrastructure, construction, hospitals and kitchens.

Nickel-based alloys
High-performance nickel-based alloys excel in the aggressive environments of the oil and gas, power generation, pollution control, pharmaceutical and chemical processing and aerospace industries. There are two major classes of nickel-based alloys: Corrosion-resistant alloys and high-temperature alloys. With corrosion-resistant alloys, molybdenum improves resistance to reducing acidic environments like hydrochloric acid, as well as pitting and crevice corrosion. For high-temperature nickel-based alloys, molybdenum increases resistance to damage caused by high-temperature creep.