... surfactant ratio and the pH of the synthesis gel can greatly influence the characteristics of the resulting materials as they generally control the formation of micelles during the synthesis. 8 ... 273–281 Leonard, A., Blin, J L., Jacobs, P A., Grange, P & Su, B L (2003) Chemistry of silica at different concentrations of non-ionic surfactant solutions: Effect of pH of the synthesis gel on the ... layer The role of HCl in the synthesis process involves dehydrating the PEO segment and decreasing the solubility of the PEO block by the presence of Cl– ions in the aqueous solution.21 The increase...