Future of Zeolites: Synthesis and Application

Zeolites have played a transformative role in catalysis, adsorption, and ion exchange for more than half a century. Recent years have witnessed a renewed surge of innovation propelled by advances in framework discovery, mechanistic understanding, precision synthesis, and data-driven materials design. This review summarizes key developments in zeolite research achieved during the past five years. We first highlight newly approved framework types, with particular emphasis on extra-large-pore zeolites and topotactic routes that significantly expand accessible structural space. We then discuss emerging insights into zeolite crystallization obtained through advanced operando characterization techniques and multiscale simulations, which are reshaping the current understanding of nucleation and crystal growth. Progress in the controllable synthesis of zeolites with tailored morphologies, hierarchical architectures, heteroatom distributions, and active sites is subsequently reviewed. Particular attention is devoted to recent advances in elucidating structure-activity-performance relationships governing catalytic, adsorption, and separation behaviors. The rapidly growing integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into zeolite discovery, synthesis optimization, and catalyst design is also examined. Finally, we highlight the expansion of zeolite-based materials into emerging areas including healthcare, biosensing, energy storage, electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, and thermal management. Future opportunities and remaining challenges are discussed, with emphasis on sustainable synthesis, predictive mechanistic modeling, and AI-assisted rational design of next-generation zeolite materials.