Crystalline microporous solids are an important class of inorganic materials with uses in different areas impacting our everyday lives, namely as catalysts, adsorbents, and ion exchangers. Advancements in synthesis have been invaluable in expanding the classical aluminosilicate zeolites to new unique framework types and compositions, motivating innovative developments. However, the inexhaustible post-synthetic options to tailor zeolite properties have been and will continue to be indispensable to realize emerging and to improve conventional applications. Starting from the routine drying and template removal processes that every zeolite must experience prior to use, a wide spectrum of treatments exists to alter individual or collective characteristics of these materials for optimal performance. This review documents the toolbox of post-synthetic strategies available to tune the properties of zeolitic materials for specific functions. The categorisation is based on the scale at which the alteration is aimed at, including the atomic structure (e.g. the introduction, dislodgment, or replacement of framework atoms), the micropore level (e.g. template removal and functionalisation by inorganic and organic species), and the crystal and particle levels (e.g. the introduction of auxiliary porosity). Through examples in the recent literature, it is shown that the combination of post-synthetic methods enables rational zeolite design, extending the characteristics of these materials way beyond those imposed by the synthesis conditions.

ZSM-5 nanocrystals were synthesized from organic-template-free gel systems containing 0.1, 1.0, and 3.0 wt % of 80 nm silicalite-1 seeds. The syntheses were performed at 100, 120, 150, and 170 °C for periods of time ranging between 3 and 190 h. Physicochemical characteristics derived from XRD, NMR, TG/DTA, SEM/ TEM, DLS, N 2 adsorption and chemical analyses of Na-ZSM-5 nanocrystals were compared with those of the nanosized tetrapropylammonium (TPA)-promoted counterpart. Crystalline yield and colloidal stability of ZSM-5 nanosized materials obtained under different conditions (seed content, crystallization temperature, and time) were also studied. Another issue of interest in the framework of this study was the effect of seed pretreatment (drying, calcination) on the characteristics of crystalline product. Thus, factors controlling seeded growth of nanosized zeolite particles were established and the mechanism of formation, including parameters governing the formation of single or aggregated crystals, revealed.