Molybdenum
Molibdeno (Mo, Z=42)
- Date
- 1781 · confidence high
- Place
- Stockholm, Sweden
- Credited to
- Peter Jacob Hjelm (identified by Carl Wilhelm Scheele)
- People
- 👤 Carl Wilhelm Scheele1742–1786
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
Scheele showed in 1778 that molybdenite was neither graphite nor lead but the ore of a new metal; Hjelm isolated it by reducing the oxide with charcoal.
The name comes from the Greek 'molybdos', lead, reflecting the historical confusion.
What it led to
- High-strength steels and armour
- Molybdenum disulfide lubricant
- Hydrodesulfurisation catalysts
Built on
- Scheele's chemistry
- Carbon reduction (smelting with carbon)
Made possible
- Molybdenum steel
- HDS catalyst