Structure
Several polymorphs of MnO2 are claimed, as well as a hydrated form. Like many other dioxides, MnO2 crystallizes in the rutile crystal structure (this polymorph is called β-MnO2), with three-coordinate oxide and octahedral metal centres. MnO2 is characteristically nonstoichiometric, being deficient in oxygen. The complicated solid-state chemistry of this material is relevant to the lore of "freshly prepared" MnO2 in organic synthesis.
Read more about this topic: Manganese Dioxide
Famous quotes containing the word structure:
“A committee is organic rather than mechanical in its nature: it is not a structure but a plant. It takes root and grows, it flowers, wilts, and dies, scattering the seed from which other committees will bloom in their turn.”
—C. Northcote Parkinson (1909–1993)
“A structure becomes architectural, and not sculptural, when its elements no longer have their justification in nature.”
—Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918)
“Science is intimately integrated with the whole social structure and cultural tradition. They mutually support one other—only in certain types of society can science flourish, and conversely without a continuous and healthy development and application of science such a society cannot function properly.”
—Talcott Parsons (1902–1979)