Microporous materials at high pressure: Are they really soft?

This is a review of the elastic behaviour and pressure-induced structural deformation mechanisms of zeolites, based on previously reported data. The relationship between microporosity and compressibility, the relationship between framework topology and principal P-induced structural deformation mechanisms, the P-induced over-hydration processes and the effect of the channel contents (i.e. nature of the cations and ionic valence, ionic radii, coordination number) on the elastic behaviour of this class of materials are discussed.