Porous pure and doped silicas with pore sizes at two length scales (meso/macroporous) have been prepared and shaped both as powders and monoliths through a one-pot surfactant assisted procedure by using a simple template agent and starting from atrane complexes as inorganic precursors.

A new colourimetric and fluorimetric method for fluoride determination in aqueous samples based on the specific reaction between fluoride and silica has been developed and applied on real samples.