a surfactant and a swelling co solvent the silicas are heat stable to calcining alumina substituted mesoporous silicas are preferably made by a direct assembly or b post synthesis treatment of a msu f silica with an aluminum reagent aluminum substituted derivative of msu f foam structures are especially valuable because they are intrinsically acidic and useful as catalysts for friedel krafts alkylations of aromatics and the cracking or hydrocracking of petroleum and other oils to more useful fuels and feed stocks organofunctionalized derivatives of msu f can be prepared by post synthesis treatment of msu f silica with organosilane reagents using standard surface grafting reactions well known to practitioners of the art a surfactant solution was prepared by adding 1 2 gram of pluronic p123 u2122 eo 20 po 70 eo 20 to 10 milliliters of water 10 milliliters of 1 0 m acetic acid was added to the surfactant solution and stirred for 2 hours one 1 gram of 1 3 5 trimethylbenzene tmb as the organic co solvent agent was then added to the surfactant solution at room temperature this provided the emulsion for templating the mesoporous cellular foam following 2 hours of stirring 2 7 grams of sodium silicate 27 sio 2 u02dc 14 naoh in 30 milliliters of water was added the reaction vessel was sealed and stirred at 60 u00b0 c for 20 hours.