Manganese(II) sulfide Manganese(II) sulfide Manganese(II) sulfide is a chemical compound of manganese and sulfur. It occurs in nature as the mineral alabandite (isometric), rambergite (hexagonal), and recently found browneite (isometric, with sphalerite-type structure, extremely rare, known only from a meteorite). Manganese(II) sulfide can be prepared by reacting a manganese(II) salt (such as manganese(II) chloride) with ammonium sulfide: The crystal structure of manganese(II) sulfide is similar to that of sodium chloride. The pink color of MnS likely results from poor coupling between the lowest energy unoccupied Mn orbitals, resulting in discrete states rather than a delocalized band. Thus the lowest energy band-to-band electronic
Manganese ferromanganese (usually about 80% manganese) is the intermediate in modern processes. Small amounts of manganese improve the workability of steel at high temperatures by forming a high-melting sulfide and preventing the formation of a liquid iron sulfide at the grain boundaries. If the manganese content reaches 4%, the embrittlement of the steel becomes a dominant feature. The embrittlement decreases at higher manganese concentrations and reaches an acceptable level at 8%. Steel containing 8 to 15% of manganese has a high tensile strength of up to 863 MPa. Steel with 12% manganese was discovered in 1882 by Robert Hadfield and is