Manganese

Manganese, with the chemical symbol Mn and atomic number 25, is a solid element. It comes in a variety of forms. It is necessary to collect manganese from outside sources because it is not present naturally, but rather in minerals like pyrolusite, in nature (MnO₂). Chlorine was created in the 18th  century by Carl Wilhelm Scheele, a Swedish-German chemist. However, he couldn’t get any of the new elements out of pyrolusite that was promised to him. Johan Gottlieb Gahn, a Swedish scientist, discovered and purified manganese metal in 1774. The manganese was isolated by heating pyrolusite, which contains manganese dioxide (MnO₂), with charcoal. The majority of manganese, however, can only be found in pyrolusite. After being burned in a furnace with powdered aluminum, it is usually electrolyzed. At normal temperature, manganese is a solid metal with a crystal structure. It belongs to the periodic table’s group 7 and period 4, respectively. To put it another way, it’s a transitional element in HTML. The metal manganese is a faint pink hue. Manganese’s most prevalent oxidation states are from 2 to 7, with +3 being the most common.

The most stable oxidation state is +2.

In a wide range of industries and applications, manganese can be found. The human body does not require it as a mineral.

Few of the Applications for Manganese Below – 

• Manganese has sulfur-fixing, deoxidizing, and alloying capabilities, which is why it is required in the manufacturing of iron and steel, among other things
• It is utilized in aluminum alloys because aluminum alloyed with manganese has a high corrosion resistance
• Its purpose is to reduce engine knocking and squealing
• As a reagent for the oxidation of benzylic alcohols, it is utilized in the production of benzyl alcohol
• Chemically, it is employed in the production of oxygen and chlorine. It is used to speed up the drying time of black paint
• It is a fundamental component of natural numbers. It is found in both dry cell batteries and alkaline batteries, among other places 
• In some countries, it is also used in the production of coinage
• It is used as a pigment in ceramics and glass to give them different colors
• It is employed as an activator in the production of red-emitting phosphor 
• It is a necessary element for the human body since it aids in the metabolism of the body and is required for the utilization of vitamins by the body

In the periodic table of elements, manganese is a member of the iron group of elements, which are assumed to have been created in massive stars just before the supernova explosion.

Magnesium is a nutrient that can be found at low levels in the human body. The body cannot function correctly without it. In addition to bones, the liver, kidneys, and pancreas also have high concentrations of phosphatidic acid. Additionally, manganese supports the production of connective tissue, bones, blood clotting factors, and sex hormones. Among other things It also plays a role in lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, calcium absorption, and blood sugar management. A healthy brain and nervous system are also dependent on manganese.

As a free radical-fighting antioxidant, manganese is found in the body’s enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD). In the body, free radicals are present in small amounts, but they have the capacity to damage DNA and cell membranes. They may have an effect on the aging process and the development of certain diseases, as well as on diseases including heart disease and cancer. Antioxidants, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), can help neutralize free radicals and reduce or even prevent some of the damage they cause.

Infertility, bone deformities, weakness, and convulsions can all result from low manganese levels in the body. You should be able to get enough manganese in your diet because it is found in whole grains, nuts, and seeds. There are also some experts who claim the recommended daily intake (RDI) for manganese is not being met by up to a third of the population of the United States of America. In the average American diet, whole grains supply twice as much manganese as refined grains, and refined grains deliver only half the amount of manganese.

However, high manganese consumption may lead to elevated manganese levels in the tissues of the body. Neurological diseases that are similar to Parkinson’s disease have been related to abnormal manganese concentrations in the brain, particularly in the basal ganglia. Manganese exposure, even at low levels, may have a deleterious effect on the development of the brain in children. Reduced cognitive performance in school-aged children has also been associated with higher manganese levels.

Manganese-55 is the only isotope of manganese that occurs naturally in the environment. At room temperature, the complicated cubic structure of the so-called alpha phase is the sole stable structure among its four allotropic versions, and this is due to the fact that it has a complicated cubic structure. Both manganese and iron have chemical activities that are extremely similar to one another. In moist air, the metal rusts, while in dry air, the metal oxidizes. Unlike iron, this metal is capable of being burned at high temperatures in the presence of air or oxygen; it decomposes water slowly when cold but quickly when heated; and it dissolves easily in dilute mineral acids when hydrogen evolution occurs, resulting in the formation of matching salts in the +2 oxidation state.

As a result of manganese’s high electropositivity, dilute non-oxidizing acids can dissolve it with relative ease. At room temperature, it is mainly inert toward nonmetals; but, at higher temperatures, it reacts with a wide variety of elements and elements of other elements. MnCl₂, MnF₂, manganese(ll) fluoride 

(MnF₂), manganese(lll) fluoride (MnF₃), and manganese(lll) oxide (MnO) are all compounds generated by the reaction of manganese with chlorine, fluorine, and nitrogen. Manganese(ll) chloride (MnCl₂) is the most common compound created (Mn₃O₄). Hydrogen is the only element that does not combine with manganese. Boron, carbon, sulfur, silicon, phosphorus, and manganese are the only elements that do not mix with manganese.

Conclusion : 

Around 30,000 years ago, prehistoric French cave artists in the Lascaux region used manganese dioxide (MnO₂) in the form of black mineral pyrolusite to create works of art in their caves (manganese dioxide). More recently, glassmakers have used this procedure to remove the faint greenish tint from natural glass, which has been around for thousands of years.

According to Johann Heinrich Pott, a Berlin glass technician who researched it in 1740, it did not contain iron, as had previously been assumed by the scientific community. A potent oxidizing agent, potassium permanganate (KMnO4), was synthesized from this compound.The word magnesia was subsequently restricted to the white magnesia alba (magnesium oxide) that was isolated much later and gave rise to the name magnesium for the free element when it was first discovered in the elemental form.