The introduction of synthetic zeolites has led to a paradigm shift in catalysis, separations, and adsorption processes, due to their unique properties such as crystallinity, high-surface area, acidity, ion-exchange capacity, and shape-selective character. However, the sole presence of micropores in these materials often imposes intracrystalline diffusion limitations, rendering low utilisation of the zeolite active volume in catalysed reactions. This critical review examines recent advances in the rapidly evolving area of zeolites with improved accessibility and molecular transport. Strategies to enhance catalyst effectiveness essentially comprise the synthesis of zeolites with wide pores and/or with short diffusion length. Available approaches are reviewed according to the principle, versatility, effectiveness, and degree of reality for practical implementation, establishing a firm link between the properties of the resulting materials and the catalytic function. We particularly dwell on the exciting field of hierarchical zeolites, which couple in a single material the catalytic power of micropores and the facilitated access and improved transport consequence of a complementary mesopore network. The carbon templating and desilication routes as examples of bottom-up and top-down methods, respectively, are reviewed in more detail to illustrate the benefits of hierarchical zeolites. Despite encircling the zeolite field, this review stimulates intuition into the design of related porous solids (116 references).

The application of templating methods to produce zeolite materials with hierarchical bi- or trimodal pore size distributions is reviewed with emphasis on mesoporous materials. Hierarchical zeolite materials are categorized into three distinctly different types of materials: hierarchical zeolite crystals, nanosized zeolite crystals, and supported zeolite crystals. For the pure zeolite materials in the first two categories, the additional meso- or macroporosity can be classified as being either intracrystalline or intercrystalline, whereas for supported zeolite materials, the additional porosity originates almost exclusively from the support material. The methods for introducing mesopores into zeolite materials are discussed and categorized. In general, mesopores can be templated in zeolite materials by use of solid templating, supramolecular templating, or indirect templating. In this categorization of templating methods, the nature of the interface between the zeolite crystal and the mesopore exactly when the mesopore starts to form is emphasized. In solid templating, the zeolite crystal is in intimate contact with a solid material that is being removed to produce the mesoporosity. Similarly, in supramolecular templating, the zeolite crystal is in direct contact with a supramolecular assembly of organized surfactants, which is removed to generate the mesopores. On the other hand, in the indirect templating method, the interface is between the zeolite crystal and solvent molecules, or possibly a gas phase. It is shown that the available templating approaches are quite versatile, and accordingly, it is possible to produce a very wide range of hierarchical zeolite materials. The resulting zeolite materials, featuring noncrystallographic mesopores in addition to the crystallographic micropores, exhibit significantly enhanced diffusional properties in comparison with purely microporous zeolite materials. These enhanced mass transport properties have been shown in several cases to result in significantly improved catalytic properties in a range of important reactions.

Mesoporous zeolite single-crystal catalysts are shown to be both more active and more selective than conventional zeolite catalysts in the alkylation of benzene with ethene. The superior catalytic properties are ascribed to improved mass transport in the mesoporous zeolite crystals. Thus, mesoporous zeolite single-crystal catalysts combine the high acidity, shape-selectivity, and hydrothermal stability of zeolites with the efficient mass transport that is typically achieved in mesoporous materials.