Engineering Zeolites for Catalytic Cracking to Light Olefins

Propene is a key building block for the petrochemical industry whose demand is increasing strongly in recent years, even faster than that of ethene. The availability of propene is limited, and therefore, efforts to optimize its production are being pursued. On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the first FCC unit, we analyze some recent advances that have been achieved in the understanding and development of zeolites aiming to increase the production of light olefins as petrochemical building blocks by means of catalytic cracking. We discuss a selected group of emerging strategies in zeolite engineering that have great prospects for research and that we consider could impact the sector in the near future. These include advances in crystal engineering and hierarchization achieved through bottom-up and top-down approaches, composite materials, tuning of the location of active sites among the different crystallographic positions available, and, importantly, how to characterize these modifications and their impact on the catalysis. Finally, we survey what advances are actually being implanted into the current industrial practice and conclude with a reflection on the future of zeolite research to satisfy light olefin demand.