沸石是一种含有水架状结构的铝硅酸盐矿物，最早发现于1756年。瑞典的矿物学家克朗斯提（Cronstedt）发现有一类天然铝硅酸盐矿石在灼烧时会产生沸腾现象，因此命名为“沸石”（瑞典文zeolit）。在希腊文中意为“沸腾的石头”。此后人们对沸石的研究不断深入。

沸石因成分不同分为方沸石（Na[AlSi₂O₆]·H₂O）和钙沸石（Ca[Al₂Si₃O₁₀]·3H₂O）。其含水量与外界温度及水蒸气的压力有关，加热时水分可慢慢逸出，但并不破坏其结晶构造。

晶体结构中有许多空腔（笼）和连接空腔的信道，水分子位于其中，可由信道运输。晶体和集合体形态及解理随着晶体结构的不同而异，一般呈浅色，玻璃光泽，硬度3－3.5，比重2.0－2.4。

Zeolites are microporous, aluminosilicate minerals commonly used as commercial adsorbents and catalysts. The term zeolite was originally coined in 1756 by Swedish mineralogist Axel Fredrik Cronstedt, who observed that upon rapidly heating the material stilbite, it produced large amounts of steam from water that had been adsorbed by the material. Based on this, he called the material zeolite, from the Greek ζέω (zéō), meaning "to boil" and λίθος (líthos), meaning "stone".