Initially, the amount of supernatant solution varied between 20 and 40 cm3 under a given set of other synthesis compositions for a SBA-15 type mesoporous silica material, and 30 cm3 was found to be the optimum amount (see Table S1 in Supplementary Materials), and the optimum sample prepared is designated as MS in this work. Pore-expansion was then attempted by introducing a swelling agent of either mesitylene or butanol in varying amounts (see Tables S2 and S3 in Supplementary Materials).