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Nanoprecursors used as a structural promoter (SP) were prepared by a hydrothermal method and named sol-SP. After centrifugation, the supernatant and precipitate were denoted as solution-SP and solid-SP, respectively. The effect of the additive amount on the structures and properties of the synthesized clinoptilolite was investigated using various characterization techniques. The activation energies of crystallization kinetics during induction and growth periods were calculated. The results showed that the induction period is the control step during the synthesis of clinoptilolite, while additive sol-SP or solid-SP was beneficial to shorten the induction period and therefore enhance the formation of the crystal nucleus. When their pre-crystallization time was too long or the additive amount was too much, the impure phase (phillipsite) in the synthesized clinoptilolite was easily generated. Although the addition of solution-SP had no obvious effect on the induction period, it promoted the growth of crystals after nucleation. Finally, the adsorption performances for CO 2 and CH 4 were preliminarily assessed using synthetic clinoptilolite as the adsorbent, showing the promising application for the separation of CO 2 /CH 4 ., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

TiO 2 -supported clinoptilolite (TiO 2 /CP) was synthesized in the presence of F - ions. Various characterizations demonstrated that the particle size of loaded TiO 2 increased linearly with an increase in the temperature and concentration of F - ions. In particular, the additive F - ions were favored to produce the mutually independent co-exposed {001} and {101} facets of loaded TiO 2 , while TiO 2 /CPs synthesized in the absence of F - ions were dominated by the thermodynamically stable {101} facet. As photocatalysts for the removal of crystal violet or methyl orange dyes under UV-irradiation in aqueous solutions, TiO 2 /CPs (ACP6) synthesized in the presence of F - ions significantly improved the degradation efficiency, as compared to ACP3 obtained in the absence of F - ions. These results elucidated that the highly energetic {001} exposed facet, large particle size and fine dispersion of loaded TiO 2 in TiO 2 /CP accounts for its best photocatalytic performance. The effected mechanism of operational parameters on the degradation performances is proposed., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)