Manganese(II,III) oxide a weighting agent while drilling reservoir sections in oil and gas wells. Manganese(II,III) oxide Manganese(II,III) oxide is the chemical compound with formula MnO. Manganese is present in two oxidation states +2 and +3 and the formula is sometimes written as MnO.MnO. MnO is found in nature as the mineral hausmannite. MnO formed when any manganese oxide is heated in air above 1000 °C. Considerable research has centred on producing nanocrystalline MnO and various syntheses that involve oxidation of Mn or reduction of Mn. MnO has been found to act as a catalyst for a range of reactions e.g. the oxidation
Manganese in glassmaking, manganese dioxide was available for experiments by alchemists, the first chemists. Ignatius Gottfried Kaim (1770) and Johann Glauber (17th century) discovered that manganese dioxide could be converted to permanganate, a useful laboratory reagent. By the mid-18th century, the Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele used manganese dioxide to produce chlorine. First, hydrochloric acid, or a mixture of dilute sulfuric acid and sodium chloride was made to react with manganese dioxide, later hydrochloric acid from the Leblanc process was used and the manganese dioxide was recycled by the Weldon process. The production of chlorine and hypochlorite bleaching agents was a