Procedure:

Part 1: Preparation of silica gel from beach sand

1. An electronic balance was used to measure 50g of the sand collected from Tanjung
Bungah beach and the sand was placed in a steel bowl.
2. An equal portion of 50g sodium hydroxide pellets were added to the sand in the steel
bowl and the mixture was stirred using a spatula.
3. The mixture was heated using a Bunsen burner and stirred continuously.
4. The mixture was removed,transferred to a 250ml beaker and left to cool.
5. The mixture was rinsed with distilled water and stirred until it dissolved.
6. The mixture was filtered into a 250ml beaker using a filter funnel and filter paper to
remove insoluble impurities.
7. Hydrochloric acid was added to the mixture slowly until no more precipitate was
formed.
8. The mixture was rinsed with distilled water and filtered.
9. The precipitate was collected into a crucible and was put in an oven at 450 ºC and left
to dry for a few hours.
10. The sample was cooled.

Part 2: Determinination of the moisture absorbing capacity of prepared silica gel

1. An electronic balance was used to measure the initial mass of the prepared silica gel.
2. The silica gel was placed in outdoor conditions under a roof and left for 1 day.
3. An electronic balance was used to determine the final mass of the silica gel and the
value was recorded.
4. The mass of water absorbed by the silica gel was determined.
5. The percentage of the mass of water absorbed by silica gel relative to its mass was
calculated.
Results and Observations:

Part 1: Preparation of silica gel from beach sand

The sand was mixed with sodium hydroxide pellets while stirring and heated. Silica
compounds dissolve easily in an alkaline solution, and will settle to an acidic solution.
Heating will accelerate the rate of reaction and stirring aims to speed up contact between
solute and solvent also distribute the temperature, besides that the stirring function is to
reduce the occurrence of precipitation. The reaction that occurs during the extraction process
is as follows:

SiO2 (beach sand)+ NaOH (aq) → Na2SiO3 (aq)+ H2O (l)

The sodium silicate solution (Na2SiO3) formed is then filtered to separate the filtrate from
the residue. The formation of silica gel is obtained by adding HCl solution to Na2SiO3
solution. HCl solution acts as a precipitation agent, the purpose of adding HCl to Na2SiO3
solution is to allow ion exchange between Na+ with H+ to produce silicic acid. The reaction
is as follows:

Na2SiO3(aq)+ H2O(l)+ 2HCl(aq) → Si(OH)4(aq)+ 2NaCl(aq)

Next, the precipitate was rinsed with distilled water to remove excess acid and dried in an
oven at 450 ºC for a few hours. Heating results in dehydration of silicic acid to form silica
gel.

Si(OH)4 (aq) → SiO2 (s) + 2H2O (l)

Part 2: Determination of the moisture absorbing capacity of prepared silica gel

Firstly, the mass of silica gel prepared was measured using the formula below:

Mass of silica gel = (Mass of crucible + silica gel) – (Mass of crucible)

Mass of crucible 25.62g

Mass of crucible + silica gel 58.91g
Mass of silica gel 33.29g

The silica gel was then left outdoors under a roof for 1 day. The initial mass and final mass
was determined using an electronic balance and the moisture absorbing capability of silica
gel was calculated. Below are the equations used to measure the mass of water absorbed and
the moisture absorbing capability of silica gel:

Mass of water absorbed = (Final mass of silica gel) – (Initial mass of silica gel)

Moisture absorbing capability = (Mass of water absorbed/Initial mass of silica gel)×100%

Initial mass of silica gel 33.29g

Final mass of silica gel 44.35g
Mass of water absorbed 11.06g
Percentage of water absorbed by silica gel relative to its mass 33.22%
Conclusion:

The moisture absorbing capability of silica gel prepared from sand collected from a beach in
Tanjung Bungah, Penang was 33.22%.