Removal of graphite by oxidation with perchloric acid plus periodic acid: Inapplicability to the spectrophotometric determination of manganese in steel

An attempt has been made to improve the Willard and Greathouse periodate method for the determination of manganese in high-carbon steel and cast iron by oxidizing the graphite with periodic acid in the presence of perchloric acid and phosphoric acid. Graphite is rapidly oxidized at 150° by this mixture but manganese is lost by volatilization as the heptoxide and decomposition of the latter on hot surfaces to manganese dioxide. No way was found for either the quantitative removal and recovery of manganese by volatilization or for quantitative return to the main solution. The spectrophotometric determination of manganese in the supernatant liquid after allowing graphite to settle yields imprecise but not wholly unacceptable results; for the highest accuracy, graphite should be removed along with silica following dehydration of the latter with perchloric acid.