As an effective non-petroleum based process for producing light olefins

the methanol-to-olefin (MTO) route has become an indispensable alternative to the industrial production of light olefins. The silicoaluminophosphate SAPO-34 zeolite (CHA-type structure) has proven to be an efficient industrial catalyst for the production of ethylene and propylene by the MTO reaction. However

the inherent structure and related diffusion limitations of SAPO-34 limit the mass transport and thus cause rapid deactivation of the catalyst. Fabrication of hierarchical SAPO-34 zeolite is one of the most effective strategies to address the intrinsic diffusion limitation. As simple

inexpensive

and efficient approach

the post-synthetic route has attracted considerable attention and widely used to introduce secondary meso-/macropores into the microporous SAPO-34 material. Significant effort has been dedicated to the development of post-synthesis strategies to prepare hierarchical SAPO-34 zeolite

thereby enhancing its catalytic performance in the MTO process. This mini-review addresses the post-synthesis preparation of hierarchical SAPO-34 catalysts and their MTO performance. Furthermore

some current problems and prospects of the post-synthesis route to hierarchical SAPO-34 catalysts are also revised. We expect this minireview to inspire the more efficient preparation of hierarchical SAPO-34 catalysts for the MTO process.