About
Manganese is a chemical element with symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is not found as a free element in nature; it is often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a metal with important industrial metal alloy uses, particularly in stainless steels.
Production
Manganese ore is mainly mined in South Africa, Australia, China, Gabon, Brazil, India, Kazakhstan, Ghana, Ukraine and Malaysia For the production of ferromanganese, the manganese ore is mixed with iron ore and carbon, and then reduced either in a blast furnace or in an electric arc furnace.[33]The resulting ferromanganese has a manganese content of 30 to 80%.[4] Pure manganese used for the production of iron-free alloys is produced by leaching manganese ore with sulfuric acid and a subsequent electrowinning process China is both the largest producer of manganese ore and the largest producer of refined manganese materials (i.e. ferromanganese, silicomanganese and electrolytic manganese).
Applications
Manganese is too brittle to be of much use as a pure metal. It is mainly used in alloys, such as steel.
Steel contains about 1% manganese, to increase the strength and also improve workability and resistance to wear.
Manganese steel contains about 13% manganese. This is extremely strong and is used for railway tracks, safes, rifle barrels and prison bars.
Drinks cans are made of an alloy of aluminium with 1.5% manganese, to improve resistance to corrosion. With aluminium, antimony and copper it forms highly magnetic alloys.
Manganese(IV) oxide is used as a catalyst, a rubber additive and to decolourise glass that is coloured green by iron impurities. Manganese sulfate is used to make a fungicide. Manganese(II) oxide is a powerful oxidising agent and is used in quantitative analysis. It is also used to make fertilisers and ceramics