3 Common Molybdenum Alloys: Applications and Features

Due to its unique mechanical and chemical properties, molybdenum has become an outstanding material capable of meeting the most demanding requirements. Its advantages are its extremely high melting point, low coefficient of thermal expansion, and good thermal conductivity, so it is widely used in many different industrial fields.

Molybdenum is a veritable "all-rounder" in specialty materials. Its wide range of applications includes industrial tapes for lighting and filaments, semiconductor substrates for the power and electronics industry, glass melt electrodes and hot zones for high-temperature furnaces and sputtering targets for solar cell and flat panel displays. Molybdenum alloys mainly include TZM, ML, and MoRe alloys. This article talks about the applications of these three types of alloys.

TZM (Titanium Zirconium Molybdenum) Alloy

Titanium Zirconium Molybdenum alloy refers to a molybdenum-based alloy with titanium and zirconium as alloying elements. Molybdenum metal can be transformed into TZM alloy using a small amount of ultra-fine microcarbides. TZM alloys are not only harder than pure molybdenum but also have higher recrystallization temperatures and better creep resistance. TZM can be used in high-temperature applications where harsh mechanical loads exist, such as in knife forging or X-ray tube rotating anodes. TZM's recommended operating temperature is 700℃ to 1400℃.

ML (Molybdenum-Lanthanum) Alloy

Molybdenum-lanthanum alloy is an alloy composed of base metal molybdenum and lanthanum trioxide present as dispersed particles in the matrix. The content of La2O3 in the alloy is generally 0.5%~5.0% (mass fraction). The mixture of molybdenum with a small amount of lanthanum oxide particles can form the so-called laminated fiber structure. This special microstructure can also be stable at temperatures of up to 2000°C. Therefore, even in extreme conditions of use, molybdenum-lanthanum oxide is also creep resistant. We mainly process such alloys into high temperature furnace components, such as strands and other metal wires, sinter and anneal boats, or evaporator coils. In the lighting industry, lanthanum molybdenum oxide is also used as a guard wire and feeder.

MoRe (Molybdenum Rhenium) Alloy

Molybdenum rhenium alloy is a molybdenum alloy with 2% to 5% rhenium added as molybdenum. The addition of rhenium to molybdenum can improve the plasticity and strength of molybdenum. Mo-Re alloy can be used as a high-speed rotating X-ray tube sputtering target, long-life grid plate for microwave communication, space reactor core heating tube, high-temperature furnace heating element, high-temperature thermocouple, etc. Usually, Mo-5%Re and Mo-41%Re are used as thermocouple wires and used as structural materials in aerospace. Mo-50%Re can be used as a high-temperature structural material.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading our article and we hope it can help you to have a better understanding of the applications of TZM, ML, and MoRe alloy. If you want to learn more about molybdenum alloys, we would like to advise you to visit Stanford Advanced Materials (SAM) for more information.

Stanford Advanced Materials (SAM) is a worldwide molybdenum supplier and has over two decades of experience in the manufacture and sale of molybdenum products, providing high-quality products to meet our customers' R&D and production needs. As such, we are confident that SAM will be your favorite molybdenum supplier and business partner.