Silica gel is an amorphous and porous form of silicon dioxide, consisting of an irregular tridimensional framework of alternating silicon and oxygen atoms with nanometer-scale voids and pores.
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17 Facts About Silica gel
2.
Silica gel was in existence as early as the 1640s as a scientific curiosity.
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3.
The synthetic route for producing silica gel was patented in 1918 by Walter A Patrick, a chemistry professor at Johns Hopkins University.
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4.
In World War II, silica gel was indispensable in the war effort for keeping penicillin dry, protecting military equipment from moisture damage, as a fluid cracking catalyst for the production of high octane gasoline, making carbon disulphide, and as a catalyst support for the manufacture of butadiene from ethanol.
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5.
However, material silica gel removes moisture by adsorption onto the surface of its numerous pores rather than by absorption into the bulk of the gel.
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6.
Silica gel is used to dry the air in industrial compressed air systems.
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7.
Silica gel is sometimes used as a preservation tool to control relative humidity in museum and library exhibitions and storage.
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8.
The differences in particle size dictate if the silica gel should be used for flash or gravity chromatography.
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9.
Silica gel is applied to aluminium, glass, or plastic sheets for thin layer chromatography.
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10.
Chelating groups can be covalently bound to polyamines that have been grafted onto a silica gel surface producing a material of greater mechanical integrity.
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11.
Silica gel is combined with alkali metals to form a M-SG reducing agent.
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12.
Silica gel is not expected to biodegrade in either water or soil.
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13.
Silica gel is used as cat litter, by itself or in combination with more traditional materials, such as clays including bentonite.
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14.
Silica gel, referred to as silicon dioxide or synthetic amorphous silica, is listed by the FDA in the United States as generally recognized as safe, meaning it can be added to food products without needing approval.
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15.
Silica gel can be found commonly in foods including baked goods, spices and herbs, dairy products, cocoa products, and more.
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16.
The surface structure of silica gel allows the adsorption of some minerals that are dissolved in the water, or "Ion-exchange" as it is marketed.
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17.
Silica gel is non-toxic, non-flammable, and non-reactive and stable with ordinary usage.
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