Sciencemadness Discussion Board

drying agent for silica gel

CHRIS25 - 3-4-2014 at 08:59

I have some silica gel which is washed and sitting in a dessicator bag with NaOH. I had put in NaSO4 anhydrous but that did not seem to absorb anything. I have a reference which advises sodium and calcium sulphate to be used to dry acidic products. Having never made this before has anybody else any tips for drying?

forgottenpassword - 3-4-2014 at 09:33

Dry it in an oven at 110 C.

CHRIS25 - 3-4-2014 at 09:49

Oh that simple!

Zyklon-A - 3-4-2014 at 09:50

Yep, that's why silica gel is so useful.

CHRIS25 - 3-4-2014 at 11:26

Quote: Originally posted by Zyklonb  
Yep, that's why silica gel is so useful.
I am aware that you can do this from the beads that you find in the packets. But I could not find any information about how one would dry the synthetic precipitated silica that I recently made, just thought perhaps that the oven was not appropriate at this stage that's all.

Zyklon-A - 3-4-2014 at 19:14

I don't see why not.