Make Potassium Permanganate

In this video, we explore the process of making potassium permanganate, a valuable oxidant with a striking purple color. Starting with 43g of manganese dioxide, often obtained from greensand filter media, and 25g of potassium chlorate, the chemicals are thoroughly mixed. A can made of iron is chosen as the reaction vessel due to its resistance to the highly corrosive mixture.

All reagents are mixed long with 40mL of water and 60g of potassium hydroxide. The can is placed in a furnace and heated to 400 degrees Celsius for several hours. This step involves the oxidation of manganese dioxide to potassium manganate by potassium chlorate, with potassium hydroxide providing essential potassium ions and alkaline conditions.

Once cooled and soaked in water, the solid chunks of potassium manganate are retrieved. To convert potassium manganate into potassium permanganate, chlorine gas is used. A chlorine generator comprising 45g of trichloroisocyanuric acid in 100mL water and 75mL of 30% hydrochloric acid is employed to produce chlorine gas, which is then introduced into the potassium manganate flask. The reaction results in potassium permanganate with potassium chloride as a byproduct.

Once the reaction is complete, the mixture is vacuum-filtered and then chilled to separate potassium permanganate from potassium chloride and hypochlorite. The potassium permanganate crystals are beautiful black needles.

The final yield is approximately 30.7g or 39%, adjusted to 52% considering the purity of the manganese dioxide used. Both crystallizations of potassium permanganate are found to be 99% pure with a 1% margin of error, confirmed through titration.

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