Experimental and molecular simulation studies of CO2 adsorption on zeolitic imidazolate frameworks: ZIF-8 and amine-modified ZIF-8

ZIF-8 has been rapidly developed as a potential candidate for CO2 capture due to its low density, high surface area, and robust structure. Considering the electron-donating effect of amino functional groups, amino-modification is expected to be an efficient way to improve CO2 adsorption of ZIF-8. In this work, grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulation was performed to study the CO2 adsorption isotherm based on ZIF-8, ZIF-8-NH2, and ZIF-8-(NH2)2. ZIF-8 was synthesized and CO2 adsorption isotherms based on ZIF-8 was measured. The experimental surface area, pore volume, and CO2 adsorption isotherm were used to validate the force field. Adsorptive capacity of ZIF-8-NH2, and ZIF-8-(NH2)2 were first estimated. The GCMC simulation results indicated that the order of increasing CO2 capacity of the ZIF-8 in the lower pressure regime is: ZIF-8 < ZIF-8-NH2 < ZIF-8-(NH2)2, and in the high pressure is: ZIF-8 < ZIF-8-(NH2)2 < ZIF-8-NH2. New adsorption sites can be generated with the existence of-NH2 groups. In addition, for non-modified and amino-modified ZIF-8, it was the first time to use density functional theory (DFT) calculations to investigate their CO2 adsorption sites and CO2 binding energies. The present work indicates that appropriate amine-functionalized can directly enhanced CO2 capacity of ZIF-8.