The ferrierite group of zeolite minerals (the FER structure) consists of four very similar species: ferrierite-Mg, ferrierite-Na, ferrierite-NH4 and ferrierite-K, based on the dominant cation in the A location.

ferrierite-Mg and ferrierite-K are orthorhombic minerals and ferrierite-Na is monoclinic with highly variable cationic composition (Na,K)2Mg(Si,Al)18O36(OH)·9H2O.

Ferrierite-H can be used as a catalyst in the chemical industry for the acid-catalyzed skeletal isomerization of n-butenes to isobutene, the raw material for production of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE).

[4] The hydrophobic all-silica ferrierite (Si-FER) has very high selectivity in the separation of alcohol–water mixtures, due to the very restrictive shape and space constraints of the FER framework type.

At high pressure, Si-FER can achieve the separation of an ethanol–water liquid mixture into supramolecular blocks of its components, namely, ethanol dimer wires and water tetramer squares.