Development of a force field for zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 with structural flexibility

A force field is developed for zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) with structural flexibility by combining quantum chemical calculations and classical Amber force field. The predicted crystalline properties of ZIF-8 (lattice constants, bond lengths, angles, dihedrals, and x-ray diffraction patterns) agree well with experimental results. A structural transition from crystalline to amorphous as found in experiment is observed. The mechanical properties of ZIF-8 are also described fairly well by the force field, particularly the Young's modulus predicted matches perfectly with measured value. Furthermore, the heat capacity of ZIF-8 as a typical thermophysical property is predicted and close to experimental data available for other metal-organic frameworks. It is revealed the structural flexibility of ZIF-8 exerts a significant effect on gas diffusion. In rigid ZIF-8, no diffusive behavior is observed for CH4 within the simulation time scale of current study. With the structural flexibility, however, the predicted diffusivities of CH4 and CO2 are close to reported data in the literature. The density distributions and free energy profiles of CH4 and CO2 in the pore of ZIF-8 are estimated to analyze the mechanism of gas diffusion. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4729314]