Zeolites are important classes of crystalline materials
and possess
well-defined channels and cages with molecular dimensions. They have
been extensively employed as heterogeneous catalysts and gas adsorbents
due to their relatively large specific surface areas, high pore volumes,
compositional flexibility, definite acidity, and hydrothermal stability.
The zeolite synthesis normally undergoes high-temperature hydrothermal
treatments with a relatively long crystallization time, which exhibits
low synthesis efficiency and high energy consumption. Various strategies, e.g., modulation of the synthesis gel compositions, employment
of special silica/aluminum sources, addition of seeds, fluoride, hydroxyl
(·OH) free radical initiators, and organic additives, regulation
of the crystallization conditions, development of new approaches,
etc., have been developed to overcome these obstacles. And, these
achievements make prominent contributions to the topic of acceleration
of the zeolite crystallization and promote the fundamental understanding
of the zeolite formation mechanism. However, there is a lack of the
comprehensive summary and analysis on them. Herein, we provide an
overview of the recent achievements, highlight the significant progress
in the past decades on the developments of novel and remarkable strategies
to accelerate the crystallization of zeolites, and basically divide
them into three main types, i.e., chemical methods, physical methods,
and the derived new approaches. The principles/acceleration mechanisms,
effectiveness, versatility, and degree of reality for the corresponding
approaches are thoroughly discussed and summarized. Finally, the rational
design of the prospective strategies for the fast synthesis of zeolites
is commented on and envisioned. The information gathered here is expected
to provide solid guidance for developing a more effective route to
improve the zeolite crystallization and obtain the functional zeolite-based
materials with more shortened durations and lowered cost and further
promote their applications.