As the most successful heterogeneous catalyst, zeolite has found widespread application in methanol to olefins, alkane dehydrogenation, CO₂ hydrogenation, syngas conversion, and various other processes. To provide a comprehensive understanding of the structure-performance relationship, a series of fundamental papers have been published in this special issue, covering topics ranging from zeolite synthesis to structural and acidic characterization, and catalytic reactions.

On the cover of this issue, Meng et al. present an overview of the role of different types of templates in guiding zeolite synthesis, focusing on structure-directing, space-filling, and charge-balancing effects. They highlight that synthesized zeolites based on designed templates exhibit enhanced catalytic performance in target reactions due to shape selectivity.

Chowdhury et al. demonstrate the use of Precipitated Calcium Carbonate as a hard template to synthesize Ca/ZSM-5, which exhibits superior catalytic performance in methanol to olefins conversion. Similarly, Xu et al. introduce Pt species into Sn-ECNU-46 to create a bimetallic catalyst for efficient alkane dehydrogenation, while Li emphasizes the role of dynamically migrated indium in a single-atom RhIn@S-1 catalyst, resulting in an elongated catalyst lifetime.

These improvements in catalytic performance heavily rely on insightful understanding of the acidity and crystal structure of zeolites obtained through various characterization techniques. Guo et al. employ three-dimensional electron diffraction (3D ED) and high-quality PXRD to elucidate the layered structure of DNL-6, while Ma et al. summarize recent advances in the application of 3D ED for the analysis of zeolite structures. Xu et al. investigate the stability of aluminum in mordenite zeolite in relation to different cations using XRD, FT-IR, ssNMR, and carbonylation performance, as well as the impact of water at high temperatures during calcination. Dai et al. combine probe-assisted 1H MAS NMR and NH₃-TPD to study acid sites in different zeolites, considering acid type, density, and strength.

Prof. Anmin Zheng

E-mail: zhenganm@wipm.ac.cn

Prof. Xiangju Meng

Zhejiang University (Hangzhou, China)

Prof. Hao Xu

State Key Laboratory of Molecular & Process Engineering, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Chemical Processes, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China

E-mail: hxu@chem.ecnu.edu.cn

Prof. Wei Chen

Ghent University, Technologiepark 46, Zwijnaarde 9052, Belgium