Manganese Manganese 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. Historically, manganese is named for pyrolusite and other black minerals from the region of Magnesia in Greece, which also gave its name to magnesium and the iron ore magnetite. By the mid-18th century, Swedish-German chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele had used pyrolusite to produce chlorine. Scheele and others were aware that pyrolusite (now known
Manganese(II) sulfate highly characteristic. Typically, manganese ores are purified by their conversion to manganese(II) sulfate. Treatment of aqueous solutions of the sulfate with sodium carbonate leads to precipitation of manganese carbonate, which can be calcined to give the oxides MnO. In the laboratory, manganese sulfate can be made by treating manganese dioxide with sulfur dioxide: It can also be made by mixing potassium permanganate with sodium bisulfate and hydrogen peroxide. Manganese sulfate is a by-product of various industrially significant oxidations that use manganese dioxide, including the manufacture of hydroquinone and anisaldehyde. Electrolysis of manganese sulfate yields manganese dioxide, which is called EMD