This proposal continues a new direction in our research on surfactant-templated inorganic materials. These nanostructured materials contain ordered arrays of surfactant micelles in an inorganic matrix. Removing the surfactant leaves an ordered array of nanopores which can be used in many applications. We have been working on the formation mechanisms of these materials in particular to understand the earliest interactions between the inorganic species and surfactant micelles in solution. Our previous experiments have looked at water structure around micelles with or without an acid catalyst. We now wish to introduce silica ions into the solution at a low concentration to determine how the presence of these species perturbs the water structure around the surfactant headgroups during the templating interaction. NIMROD is ideal to study large micelles simultaneously with the water structures