Zeolites and Zeolite-Based Materials at the Biointerface: From Haemostasis and Biomolecule Separation to Theranostic Applications

Zeolites are crystalline microporous aluminosilicates whose tunable porosity, ion-exchange capacity, surface charge, and chemical robustness make them versatile materials at the biointerface. This review surveys three converging domains of zeolite biomedicine. First, haemostasis and wound healing, where water adsorption and Ca2+ release drive procoagulant activity, from the QuikClot generation to strategies that mitigate the exothermic response and to flexible zeolite–textile dressings. Second, the separation, immobilization, and sensing of biomolecules, where external surface area, hierarchical porosity, and surface chemistry—rather than intracrystalline sieving alone—govern the interaction with proteins and nucleic acids in complex matrices. Third, the emerging design of zeolite-based theranostic platforms integrating drug delivery, imaging, and stimuli-responsive therapy, enabled by the transition from bulk crystals to surface-engineered nanozeolites. Across all three domains, a single lesson recurs: the biological behaviour of zeolites is governed by the external surface rather than by molecular sieving, and the chemical integrity of the framework under working conditions is a design parameter that is reported only sporadically. We further show that the theranostic literature reaching in vivo validation is dominated by zeolite-like imidazolate frameworks, whereas the evidence for aluminosilicate zeolites remains largely in vitro—the gap that most urgently needs closing. The successes of ZIFs should therefore be read as structural inspiration for zeolite design rather than as direct evidence for aluminosilicate clinical translation.