The Cathodic Reduction of Manganese Dioxide in Alkaline Electrolyte

Abstract

A study of the mechanism of the reduction of manganese dioxide in strongly alkaline electrolytes has shown that the rather complex process may be considered as occurring in three steps. The first is the simultaneous reduction to form a divalent manganese compound, presumably, and an intermediate oxide tentatively identified as ; the second step is the electrochemical reduction of to form both and ; the final step is the electrochemical reduction of to and . Both chemical and x‐ray diffraction analyses of cathodes at various stages of reduction are presented.