Desiccant products are difficult to be replaced. And Silica Gel is one of them, probably the best known for its many applications.
The origin of the problem is the humidity, a factor that may deteriorate the majority of products if remaining long time in contact with them. In this way food, medicine, clothing, electrical appliances, photographic equipment, documents, cabinet interiors and almost any product can be damaged in contact with moist environments. And to solve this, the natural way to reduce moisture is by ventiliación, preferably natural.
Obviously, not everything is ventilable, so it is necessary to control the increase of moisture with products that can absorb it.
One of this products is silica gel, silicon dioxide that looks like a porous sand in granular form. The high porosity of the desiccant silica gel allows the absorption of environmental water up to 30% of its weight, so it is the desiccant capable of absorbing more water. Moreover, silica gel is non-toxic, non-flammable and does not react chemically, so it can be considered a “clean” product, such as sand.
All these qualities have allowed Silica Gel to enter in many applications where it was necessary to get dry environments.
What silica gel can be used for?
- PHOTOGRAPHY: Protection of the photographic material for storage.
- TECHNOLOGY: moisture protection technology products.
- ELECTRONICS: protection from moisture and drying them (such as phones or ipods wet)
- CLOTHING / SHOES: Conservation of clothes and shoes without moisture.
- LEATHER / SKIN: Preventing stains on clothes, shoes or fur coats or leather
- HORTICULTURE: Used to dry flowers and plants, or save seeds in good condition
- PETS: The cat litter is made with silica.
- PAPER: Protection of documents or photos from degradation by the presence of moisture
- RUST: Preventing oxidation of metallic elements in confined areas (tool boxes, packaging, etc.)
- HOME: Many applications to keep dry closets, interiors of bags (which avoid moisture to prevent odors, bright silver, …
- FOOD: Food Protection caking bulk moisture and dry grocery products. If you are in direct contact with food must be in a special container.
- DRUGS: Protecting drug from moisture.
As you can see, the range is varied. Probably thinking a bit more we could find more applications in which it would be useful to use the Silica Gel. But we have to be careful: when the product is saturated with water no longer performs its function, so it is necessary to regenerate it by placing it in an oven at 120 ° C – 150 ° C so that the water inside the pore changes its state ( liquid to gas) and leaves the Silica Gel. After cooling it can be used again.
Learn all about silica gel properties, specifications and supplies
