Raw materials in battery technology: Manganese (Glossary)

Manganese is a silvery-grey, hard and brittle metal from the so-called transition elements group. It is quite base, tarnishes in air, is easily soluble in acids and dissolves slowly in water. In the valencies +2 to +4 is forms a base, in the valencies +4 to +7 an acid.

Pyrolusite, manganite, hausmannite and manganese spar are important ores from which it can be extracted. Manufacturing countries include the CIS states and South Africa. Deep-sea nodules are ore nodules rich in manganese that are found at certain points in great depths on the ocean floor. They are regarded as potentially interesting for extraction.

Manganese is an essential trace element for certain plants and animals.

Manganese is an important alloying metal, particularly in iron, copper and aluminium alloys, and for modifying steel. It is also required to produce a number of technical manganese compounds. The global production in 1980 was 10 million tons.

Manganese, as manganese(IV)dioxide (MnO₂, manganese dioxide, pyrolusite) is used in battery technology as a material for electrodes. The principle was first used on a large scale in the Leclanché-Element of the French scientist Georges Leclanché in 1860. In this, the graphite cathode was covered in manganese dioxide (electrolyte of an ammonium chloride solution and a zinc anode). A manganese dioxide electrode was also used in the alkali-manganese element , the electrolyte here was caustic potash solution. In both cases, quadrivalent manganese dioxide (MnO₂) was reduced to trivalent hydrous manganite (MnOOH) at the cathode. In secondary battery technology manganese is important as an constituent of mixed metal alloys for nickel-metal hydride accumulators and as a material for cathodes in accumulators on a lithium-ion basis (Lithium-manganese oxide, LiMn₂O₄ and LiMnO₂).

Some key technical data

Chemical symbol: Mn

Atomic number: 25

Relative atomic mass: 54.94

Oxidation numbers: +7, +6, +4, +3, +2

Density: 7.47 g/cm³

Melting point: 1,245°C

Boiling point: 2,061°C

Specific electrical resistance: 160

	See also:
		Glossary overview Li-ion / Mn high-current cells (Glossary) Manganese price (day chart)

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