The present disclosure provides a method for synthesizing fibrous silica nanospheres, the method can include, in sequence, the steps of: a) providing a reaction mixture comprising a silica precursor, a hydrolyzing agent, a template molecule, a co-surfactant and one or more solvents; b) maintaining the reaction mixture under stirring for a length of time; c) heating the reaction mixture to a temperature for a length of time; d) cooling the reaction mixture to obtain a solid, and (e) calcinating the solid to produce fibrous silica nanospheres, wherein desirable product characteristics such as particle size, fiber density, surface area, pore volume and pore size can be obtained by controlling one or more parameters of the method. The present disclosure further provides a method for synthesizing fibrous silica nanospheres using conventional heating such as refluxing the reactants in an open reactor, thereby eliminating the need for microwave heating in a closed reactor or the need for any pressure reactors.