[mark-sev]

I heard of different substances to dry various solvents such as calcium chloride, phosphorous pentaoxide,...But could silica gel also be used for drying solvents (i mostly mean various organic)?

[dimplepatel]

Yes dear. Silica gel is a best moisture adsorbent. It is a desiccant that adsorb the moisture content from the packets and keep the packaging moisture-free and also increase the shelf-life of packaging. They are of many types. Some gives indication if they got saturation points.

[P]

We used to use Sodium metal wire in solvents to keep them dry. This was after distillation. I've not heard of using silica...  seems better than sodium wire if it is OK and inert in solvents as it is less hazardous. The sodium wire and distillation worked a treat though fyi.

[dantax]

molecular sieves work very well and are non reactive - worked excellent to get ethanol to 200proof right on the line!