Different properties of Molecular Sieves!

People usually confuse silica gel beads with molecular sieves. Molecular sieves have absolutely different properties as that of silica gel. These small opaque pinkish colored beads are synthetically produced. They are highly porous crystalline beads which are made up of metal alumina silicate. Depending on the name of the variant, they have internal cavities of different size. The cavities are linked by window openings of different diameters. The diameters are measured in Angstroms or A. Absorption occurs only to those substances which have molecular size smaller than the window openings of these desiccants. Substances with larger molecular sizes will be excluded from absorption. This makes molecular sieves ideal for absorption of water and gaseous particles this is because molecules of both water and gas are very small. Molecular sieves helps to absorb contaminants from water as well as gas and reduce the contamination to very low level.