Silicone Rubber Band - Material

Silica gel is a porous material with different particle sizes, which is formed by properly dehydrating silicic acid gel mSiO2 · nH2O. Having an open porous structure with a large surface area per unit mass, it can adsorb many substances and is an excellent desiccant, adsorbent, and catalyst carrier. The adsorption function of silica gel is mainly physical adsorption, which can be regenerated and reused. Add acid to alkali metal silicate (such as sodium silicate) solution to acidify it, and then add a certain amount of electrolyte to stir it to generate silicic acid gel; Alternatively, adding acid or ammonium salt in a concentrated sodium silicate solution can also generate a silicic acid gel. The silicic acid gel is allowed to stand for several hours to age, then the soluble salts are washed off with hot water, dried at 60~70 ℃ and activated at about 300 ℃ to obtain silica gel.
The silica gel is soaked in cobalt chloride solution, dried and activated to obtain discolored silica gel. When used as a desiccant, it appears blue before absorbing water and turns red after absorbing water. The change in color indicates the degree of water absorption and whether regeneration treatment is needed. Silicone is also widely used in steam recovery, petroleum refining, and catalyst preparation.