Silica gel is an unstructured granule of sodium dioxide that is produced synthetically and packed into small packets of varying sizes.
If you could get hold of a silica gel packet and try opening it, you could find irregular crystals like beads of sodium dioxide. A perfect silica gel desiccant would have microporous cavities that are interlocking.
These packets make the water molecules in the atmosphere adhere to its surface because of the low vapor pressure when compared to the air in the atmosphere. If both the pressure is equal then absorption of water molecules reduces to a greater extent.
So in general, an atmosphere with higher humidity that is above or equal to 50% will make absorption a difficult process and could even damage the silica gel that is being exposed to such atmospheric pressure.
The desiccant in simple is a product that is used to absorb the water molecules from the air surrounding it by using a particle that has the capability to perform this reaction. There are many desiccant dryers and silica gel is one of its kind.
Advantages of Silica gel desiccants
- One main advantage of using a silica gel other than other desiccants is that silica gel desiccants are non-flammable.
- Silica gels are small in size and lightweight but it has the capability to absorb up to 40% of its own weight.
- Unlike other desiccants, silica gel has a larger shelf period If you store the silica gel desiccant in an airtight container that doesn’t allow these little packets to expose to the atmosphere.
- These packets are nonmoving or innate and it makes no disruption or damage to the materials it is used on.
- Due to its granular structure and easy to pack capability it is available in different size packets for various different applications.
- When compared to other desiccant dryers, silica gel desiccants have more stable and thermal characteristics.
Since silica gel desiccants are non-toxic and odorless, it could be used to provide large volume desiccant dryers with a minimum energy cost. Normally it would be white in color and is known as non-indicative. Even if it absorbs moisture, there would be no change in its physical appearance.
And there are also self-indicative gels, where some additives are added to the basic gel so that it changes color when absorption takes place. These self indicative desiccants can be used to know the amount of activity that takes place.
Generally, silica gel packets can be found in most of the products that we buy. For instance, you could find one of these packets inside a pair of new leather shoes that you see in a showroom. The reason is leather has the ability to have mold grown on the surface.
When silica gel is placed inside the shoes, it absorbs the moisture and that helps to limit the growth of mold so that the shoe remains clean and fresh.
In electronics, condensation is a real disaster that could possibly damage the gadget easily. Silica gel packets are used to reduce this condensation thereby protecting the gadgets. As said before, silica gel desiccants are completely harmless and non-toxic in nature and that is the reason you could find these in food products.
Some of the ways to use Silica Gel Desiccants
Once you unpack the desiccant, you could see a note that reads, ‘do not eat it or throw away’. Even Though it is not harmful, it is always recommended not to try eating these, but the next point would actually be making some sense.
Because there are many ways that you could reuse this small dehumidifier and here are some of them :
Odor-free containers
Have you come across a scenario where you toss your gym clothes inside your gym bag and when opening it after hours, you can just smell an overwhelming odor from the sweat? This is not just because of the sweat but also because of an odor-causing bacteria that grow inside the bag.
So from next time try keeping a silica gel desiccant packet inside your gym bag that would absorb all the moisture and limit the growth of such bacteria and help you in keeping your bag odor-less.
Prevent rusting
Razor blades tend to rust more quickly if you do not dry them after each use. It would easily rust with even a single droplet that sticks in some corner of the blade. As a result of this, your shaving experience would become cheap and terrible.
By having the razor blades stored along with a packet of silica gel desiccant, you could restrict the moisture and could prevent the razor from getting rusted. This also enhances the life of the razor, since many people tend to change razors when they feel it is rusted.
Apart from these few applications, silica gel desiccants have more ways to use them. Whenever you need certain products to be moisture-free, try storing them along with a packet or two of these silica gel desiccants.
