Lithium molybdate
Lithium molybdate is an inorgnaic compound with the chemical formula Li2MoO4. It is a white solid forming trigonal crystals.
Structure
At standard conditions it is isostructural to phenacite. Phrase transformations occur at elevated temperatures.Preparation
Lithium molybdate can be prepared by reacting lithium carbonate and molybdenum trioxide by a solid-state reaction route followed by recrystallization.Related compounds
A related lithium molybdenum oxide with a hexagonal layered structure can be prepared by reacting Li2MoO4 with Mo metal at 900 °C. It is isomorphous with .Uses
Lithium molybdate is used in petroleum cracking catalysts. In the oxidative conversion of n-hexane, the addition of molybdenum species to a Li/MgO catalyst results in the formation of lithium molybdate mixed oxide phases. This diminishes the formation of Li2CO3 in the catalyst, maintaining high surface area and stability.Lithium molybdate is used as corrosion inhibitor.
Li2MoO4 crystals have been found applicable for cryogenic phonon-scintillation detectors, which are used to investigate some rare nuclear processes.
The use of Li2MoO4 ceramics for antennas has been studied due to their low loss dielectric properties and the possibility to fabricate them by a room-temperature densification method instead of conventional sintering. It has been used with hollow glass microspheres to make low permittivity composite for lenses in lens antennas.