Effectiveness of silica gel from palm kernel shell ash as a moisture absorber of bottle packaging medicine

Abstract

Silica gel is widely used in industrial and pharmaceuticals, especially as a moisture absorber. Silica gel can be synthesized from a material containing high SiO2. One of natural material SiO2 resource is palm kernel shell ash (PKSA). PKSA contains 55.2% SiO2. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of silica gel from PKSA as a moisture content absorber for bottle packaging medicine. This study used experimental method with laboratory analysis. The steps in this study were initiated with the preparation of PKSA, synthesis of silica gel from PKSA, characterization of the synthesized silica gel with X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) instruments, water content analysis to determine the optimum absorption time of silica gel as a moisture absorber for bottle packaging medicine followed by testing the effectiveness silica gel at the optimum absorption time. The results showed that obtained silica gel from PKSA with a yield of 34%. XRF characterization shows content of SiO2 by 45.13 %. XRD characterization shows the nature of the solid silica gel in the form of crystalline phase. The optimum absorption time is 2 weeks for silica gel from PKSA. The effectiveness of the silica gel from the PKSA is 85.65 % as bottle packaging medicine moisture content absorber. Further analysis is needed on how to minimize the level of impurities in silica gel of PKSA to increase the effectiveness as a bottle packaging medicine moisture absorber.