Manganese Dioxide Thermite

40g manganese dioxide thermite composition, with the ratio 2.42:1 MnO2:Al powders.

My ignition method is a pile of potassium permanganate with a piece of magnesium ribbon stuck through it down into the thermite. Glycerin is poured on and after 10-20s, the mix ignites, the Mg fuse ignites, and the Mg is what lights the thermite.

Music: Blue Stahli - 88 Rounds Per Minute

Windows Movie Maker used, because I don't have anything fancy. My first video, so hopefully I didn't go overboard with the title and music.

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Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Manganese
• Thermite
• reaction
• fire
• explosion

[DjinnJuggler]

does this make manganese metal?

[mrhomescientist]

@DjinnJuggler Yes it does! It's difficult to harvest it though, because manganese's boiling point is very close to the melting point of alumina. So as the thermite goes, much of the Mn is lost and it's hard to get good sized chunks.

[elementcollector1]

@mrhomescientist Could you put a lid on the crucible after mixing permanganate / glycerin?

I tried this before, and didn't get any manganese. :(

[mrhomescientist]

@elementcollector1 You could certainly try, but like you saw it's pretty hard to get any Mn metal from this type of reaction.

[elementcollector1]

@mrhomescientist If it boils, and recondenses on the lid, couldn't I just scrape it off the lid and remelt?

[mrhomescientist]

@elementcollector1 Possibly, but I don't know if there'd be enough of a temperature differential on the lid since its getting blasted with heat from the reaction. Give it a try!

[elementcollector1]

@mrhomescientist Turns out the stuff I use is horribly impure with carbon, iron and a mess of other things. Trying to figure out how to purify it, any ideas?

[herropreasepaur123]

@mrhomescientist Is the thermite you are producing made with MnO2 as a substitute for the FeO/Fe2O3 but still retaining the aluminium powder?

[Kendrana]

@mrhomescientist A good method is to put it in a big pan that's filled with sand, and after the reaction has finished, pick up the pan and bang it on the ground (with some force) a few times.

[elementcollector1]

Quick update, hate to post so many comments, but update:

Found a piece of actual manganese metal. It's very brittle, I split it into two by applying pressure between my fingers. It's also very small, the two pieces are little millimeter blobs. But still, it's manganese! :D

Another add to the element collection!

[elementcollector1]

@mrhomescientist Well, Ima gave it a try, and here are the results:

Brown-and-black pellets which glowed like molten metal when heated with a blowtorch.

Sparks that flew everywhere and collected as a grayish powder around the flowerpot.

Which one of these, if not both, is the manganese?

Also, keep in mind that the reaction never fully ignited, but only gave off sparks. That magnesium fuse went out as soon as it hit the mixture, too. :(

[elementcollector1]

@elementcollector1 Whoops, just did a calculation, turns out I need around half an ounce of MnO2. This seems like it'll be a fairly small thermite... :(

[elementcollector1]

@mrhomescientist Cool. I made the lid, and as an extra precaution in case there isn't enough Al, put a layer of Al foil on the bottom of the crucible. Also, the lid has a small opening point, so if any manganese sputters out of there, it should be captured by the flowerpot around the crucible. Also, I seem to be not using enough aluminum powder (I just couldn't make enough of the stuff), so I used by volume and ended up with about 1/6 oz of Al and 3/2 oz of MnO2. Is this right?

[ActinideChemist]

Manganese(IV) oxide, not manganese dioxide. Ionic compounds are NEVER named using Greek prefixes, excluding 1) certain polyatomic ions which are of course covalent in nature (and covalent normally means Greek prefixes are permitted), and 2) waters of hydration.