Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), a critical solid lubricant material, has long faced a situation where high-end products depend on imports. In recent years, domestic breakthroughs in high-purity molybdenum disulfide preparation technology, achieving 99.9% purity products through physical flotation processes and vacuum decomposition technology, have accelerated the domestic substitution process. This article reviews the technical pathways, industry status, and development trends of MoS2 domestic substitution.

Global Molybdenum Resource Distribution and Industry Landscape

According to the USGS 2024 Mineral Commodity Summaries, global molybdenum reserves total 27 million tons, with China ranking first at 8.3 million tons, accounting for approximately 31%. In 2023, global molybdenum production was approximately 260,000 tons, with China producing about 130,000 tons, representing 50% of the global total. However, the high-end market for high-purity molybdenum disulfide (purity not less than 99%) has long been dominated by international companies such as Climax Molybdenum (a subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan), with domestic manufacturers mostly concentrated in mid-to-low-end products. The domestic substitution rate for high-purity products was once below 30%.

The technical barriers to high-purity molybdenum disulfide primarily lie in purification processes and crystal phase control. Traditional acid leaching can improve purity but causes environmental pollution and crystal structure damage. International companies generally employ high-temperature chlorine roasting processes, requiring significant equipment investment and high technical thresholds, while generating chlorine-containing exhaust gas treatment challenges. For a long time, MoS2 preparation technology was protected by patent portfolios held by a few international companies, creating barriers to entry.

Core Pathways of Domestic Technology Breakthrough

In recent years, domestic industry has achieved simultaneous breakthroughs across multiple pathways in molybdenum disulfide preparation technology. The first is the physical flotation process: utilizing the natural floatability of molybdenum concentrate, multi-stage flotation cleaning achieves effective separation of MoS2 from impurity minerals, reaching over 98% purity without acid leaching, and further chemical purification achieves 99.9%. This process eliminates acidic wastewater pollution at the source, with production costs approximately 20% to 30% lower than traditional acid leaching.

The second is vacuum decomposition technology: thermal decomposition of molybdenum concentrate under vacuum conditions directly converts MoS2 into metallic molybdenum powder, which is then sulfidized to produce high-purity MoS2. This technology breaks through the carbon emission bottleneck of the traditional oxide roasting-reduction process.

The third is nano-grade molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) preparation technology: by controlling temperature and atmospheric conditions, nano-grade MoO3 with 99.99% purity is prepared as a precursor material for high-purity molybdenum disulfide, ensuring product purity and particle size consistency.

On the intellectual property front, domestic technologies have formed a complete patent system, with dozens of core technology patents including international PCT patents covering the entire chain from raw ore purification to end products, breaking the technology monopoly of foreign companies in the high-purity MoS2 field.

Industry Status and Trends of Domestic Substitution

The industrialization of domestic high-purity molybdenum disulfide is accelerating. Under the GB/T 23271-2009 "Molybdenum Disulfide" standard, China has achieved large-scale production of CMo1 grade (purity not less than 98%), with annual production capacity for high-purity grades (purity not less than 99.9%) continuing to increase. According to data from the Molybdenum Branch of the China Steel Construction Society, Chinese molybdenum disulfide export volumes have been growing annually, with products entering the supply chains of over 20 countries including Japan, Germany, and the United States.

On the application side, domestic high-purity MoS2 has achieved batch supply in high-end lubricating grease, powder metallurgy, plastic modification, and other fields, with product performance indicators matching or partially exceeding those of international counterparts. Key physical parameters including CAS number 1317-33-5, molecular weight 160.07, and density 4.80 to 5.06g/cm3 are consistent with international standards, and COA (Certificate of Analysis) data meets multinational enterprise procurement specifications. As domestic manufacturers continue optimizing fine indicators such as crystal phase control and particle size distribution, the domestic substitution rate for high-purity molybdenum disulfide is expected to exceed 60% within the next 3 to 5 years.

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