• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.479-486
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• 2009

In natural environments, manganese (Mn) exists in the valence of +2, +3, and +4 and plays a pivotal role as a strong oxidant or reductant in the geochemical cycles of elements. Especially, Mn forms varying (oxyhydr)oxides. The oxidation state of structural Mn is characteristic to each oxide and is one of the most important factors controlling its geochemical behaviors such as solubility, sorption capacity, and redox potential. Therefore, it is important to elucidate processes governing Mn oxidation state in predicting the fate and transport of many redox sensitive elements in the environment. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is a very useful method to determine the oxidation state of various elements in solid phases. In this study, the oxidation states of structural Mn in MnO, $Mn_2O_3$, $MnO_2$ were assessed based on the binding energy spectra of $Mn2p_{3/2}$ and Mn3s using XPS and were compared with those reported elsewhere. $Mn2p_{3/2}$ binding energies were determined as 640.9, 641.5, 641.8 eV for MnO, $Mn_2O_3$, $MnO_2$, respectively, which indicates that the binding energy increased with increasing Mn oxidation state. It was also noted that Ar etching may cause changes in electronic structure configuration on surface of the original sample.