Determination of the oxidation state of manganese in lepidolite by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

It is usually assumed that the oxidation state of the small proportion of Mn sometimes present in micas is +2, although there is evidence from electronic spectroscopy (Burns, 1970) for at least the occasional occurrence of Mn(III) in manganophyllite. We describe here X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) measurements on the Mn in a Norwegian lepidolite which was the subject of a concurrent structural study by X-ray photoelectron diffraction (Evans & Raftery, 1982). To establish the Mn oxidation state we have compared the Mn2p core-electron binding energies (BE), the Mn2P3/2-O ls BE differences, and the Mn2p XPS peak profiles from the four common oxides of manganese (MnO, Mn3O4, Mn2O3 and MnO2) with those from the lepidolite. A re-examination of these oxides was undertaken because the agreement between reports in the literature was unsatisfactory, and uncertainty existed concerning the integrity of some of the surfaces previously examined.