Molecular Sieves have different properties compare to silica gel!

The properties of molecular sieves are very different with that of silica gel in a number of ways. Molecular gel has the capacity to absorb moisture from the environment more quickly that silica gel. It can reduce the moisture to much lower level than that of silica gel because silica gel only works in an extremely dry environment. One more feature which only molecular sieves possess is that it has the ability to separate gasses or liquids based on it molecular size. These crystalline, metal alumina silicates have 3 dimensional network of interconnected silica. Hydrated water can also be easily separated from the network by heating which produces equal cavities which help in absorbing molecules of specific size. Specifically we can use a 4 to 8 mesh size sieve for gaseous applications as it has very small molecular size.