A series of mesoporous materials under reflux conditions have been synthesized with two silicon sources (fumed silica and sodium silicate) and lanthanum added. The following Si/La molar ratio was used in the samples: 100; 75; 50 and 25. The calcined products were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption isotherms and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS). The BET surface area gradually decreases with an increase in the lanthanum content of the LaxMCM-41 samples. Moreover, the average pore size tends to decrease along with the increase in the La content in the samples. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.