MnO2 and H2O2 Reaction Strange Results

[TheRadiochemist]

Hey guys,

I tried to perform the hydrogen peroxide splitting reaction that is catalysed by manganese dioxide but I noticed some really unusual results. I had a small beaker with 25 mg of 3%H2O2 and 97%H2O and added 2 1/2g chunks of manganese dioxide I obtained from splitting open a lithium battery. Everything looked fine, and I even got the hydrogen and oxygen gas into an ideal little airtight jar for my element collection. After I obtained sufficient hydrogen and oxygen and made a cool little film of the reaction I left it in a cool ventilated area to prevent the flammable gas mixture from leaking into the house. I must confess I forgot about it for 3 or so hours and when I came back I found the reaction taking place at the same rate, with more hydrogen peroxide splitting around the manganese dioxide every minute without ever appearing to decrease. And now, to bring us to the second oddity I noticed- The 2 separated manganese dioxide chunks were doing an odd sort of dance. They always seemed to be bumping into each other in what appeared to be a very weak positive-negative repulsion. I know the manganese present in MnO2 has ionic properties, but I fail to see why they would both attract rather than repel. What's more, I repeated this in pure H2O and they did not do this at all. Tomorrow I intend to set out the reaction all day to see how long it will last, but until then I would like an explanation to why the reaction catalyst (the MnO2) behaves this way, and why it does this only in this reaction. Does anybody have a theory or answer explaining the phenomena I discovered in my experimental data? Also, if anyone can repeat this reaction finding the same results please let me know your procedures and other data so I can put together a few more pieces of the puzzle.

Thanks!

-RadioChemist

Edited September 15, 2017 by TheRadiochemist