The flexibility of three MIL-47(V)-type materials (MIL-47, COMOC-2 and COMOC-3) has been explored by constructing the pressure-versus-volume and free energy-versus-volume curves at various temperatures ranging from 100 K to 400 K. This is done with first-principles based force fields using the recently proposed QuickFF parameterization protocol. Specific terms were added for the materials at hand to describe the asymmetry of the one-dimensional vanadium-oxide chain and to account for the flexibility of the organic linkers. The force fields are used in a series of molecular dynamics simulations at fixed volumes, but varying unit cell shapes. The three materials show a distinct pressure-versus-volume behavior, which underlines the ability to tune the mechanical properties by varying the linkers towards different applications such as nanosprings, dampers and shock absorbers.
Abstract