The one-step Stöber process may be modified to manufacture porous silica by adding a surfactant template to the reaction mixture and calcining the resulting particles. Surfactants that have been used include cetrimonium bromide, cetyltrimethylammonium chloride, and glycerol. The surfactant forms micelles, small near-spherical balls with a hydrophobic interior and a hydrophilic surface, around which the silica network grows, producing particles with surfactant- and solvent-filled channels. Calcining the solid leads to removal of the surfactant and solvent molecules by combustion and/or evaporation, leaving mesopore voids throughout the structure, as seen in the illustration at right.
Varying the surfactant concentration allows control over the diameter and volume of pores, and thus of the surface area of the product material. Increasing the amount of surfactant leads to increases in total pore volume and hence particle surface area, but with individual pore diameters remaining unchanged. Altering the pore diameter can be achieved by varying the amount of ammonia used relative to surfactant concentration; additional ammonia leads to pores with greater diameters, but with a corresponding decrease in total pore volume and particle surface area. The time allowed for the reaction to proceed also influences porosity, with greater reaction times leading to increases in total pore volume and particle surface area. Longer reaction times also lead to increases in overall silica particle size and related decreases in the uniformity of the size distribution.