A pure-Julia package for classical molecular modeling of adsorption in porous crystals such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs).

🔨 Compute the potential energy of a molecule at particular position and orientation inside of a porous crystal

🔨 Write a potential energy grid of a molecule inside a porous material to visualize binding sites

🔨 Compute the Henry coefficient of a gas in a porous crystal

🔨 Run grand-canonical Monte Carlo simulations of gas adsorption in a porous crystal

Designed for high-throughput computations to minimize input files and querying results from output files. User-friendly. Instructive error messages thrown when they should be. Well-documented (eventually). Easy to install (eventually).

In development, please contribute, post issues 🐛, and improve!

Quick demos

Henry coefficients

Compute the Henry coefficient of CO₂ in CAXVII_clean (Fe₂(dobdc)) at 298 K using the Dreiding force field:

using PorousMaterials

# read in xtal structure file and populate a Framework data structure
framework = Framework("CAXVII_clean.cif")                                               

# read in Lennard-Jones force field parameters and populate a LJForceField data structure
forcefield = LJForceField("Dreiding.csv", cutoffradius=12.5)                                  

# read in a molecule format file and populate a Molecule data structure
molecule = Molecule("CO2")                                                              

temperature = 298.0 # K

# conduct Widom insertions and compute Henry coefficient, heat of adsorption
results = henry_coefficient(framework, molecule, temperature, forcefield, insertions_per_volume=200)

# ... prints stuff
# results automatically saved to .jld load later in one line of code

# returns dictionary for easy querying
results["Qst (kJ/mol)"] # -21.0
results["henry coefficient [mol/(kg-Pa)]"] # 2.88e-05

The simulation is parallelized across a maximum of 5 cores.

Grand-canonical Monte Carlo simulations

Simulate the adsorption of CO₂ in FIQCEN_clean_min_charges (CuBTC) at 298 K at 1 bar using the Universal Force Field:

using PorousMaterials

# read in xtal structure file and populate a Framework data structure
framework = Framework("FIQCEN_clean_min_charges.cif")
# remove annoying numbers from atom labels
strip_numbers_from_atom_labels!(framework)

# read in Lennard-Jones force field parameters and populate a LJForceField data structure
forcefield = LJForceField("UFF.csv", cutoffradius=12.8)

# read in a molecule format file and populate a Molecule data structure
molecule = Molecule("CO2")

temperature = 298.0 # K
pressure = 1.0 # bar

# conduct grand-canonical Monte Carlo simulation
results, molecules = gcmc_simulation(framework, molecule, temperature, pressure, forcefield,
            n_burn_cycles=5000, n_sample_cycles=5000)

# ... prints stuff
# results automatically saved to .jld load later in one line of code

# returns dictionary for easy querying
results["⟨N⟩ (molecules/unit cell)"]
results["Q_st (K)"]

Or, compute the entire adsorption isotherm at once, parallelized across many cores:

pressures = [0.2, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0] # bar

# loop over all pressures and compute entire adsorption isotherm in parallel
results = adsorption_isotherm(framework, molecule, temperature, pressures, forcefield,
            n_burn_cycles=5000, n_sample_cycles=5000)

Or, compute the adsorption isotherm in a step-wise manner, loading the molecules from the previous simulation to save on burn cycles:

# loop over all pressures and run GCMC simulations in series.
# load in the configurations of the molecules from the previous pressure.
results = stepwise_adsorption_isotherm(framework, molecule, temperature, pressures, forcefield,
            n_burn_cycles=1000, n_sample_cycles=5000)

Potential Energy Grid

Superimpose a grid of points about the unit cell of SBMOF-1. Compute the potential energy of xenon at each point and store as a grid.

using PorousMaterials

framework = Framework("SBMOF-1.cif")
molecule = Molecule("Xe")
forcefield = LJForceField("UFF.csv")

grid = energy_grid(framework, molecule, forcefield,
    n_pts=(50, 50, 50), units=:kJ_mol) # Grid data structure

Write to a .cube volume file to visualize the potential energy contours.

write_cube(grid, "CH4_in_SBMOF1.cube")

Building blocks

All of the commands below (and above) should run if you're in the PorousMaterials.jl/test directory so that PorousMaterials.jl can find the right input files. By default, if you Pkg.clone()'d PorousMaterials.jl, the test directory is in ~/.julia/v0.6/PorousMaterials. Just fire up Julia and type in:

using PorousMaterials

Matter

In PorousMaterials.jl, crystals and molecules are composed of Lennard-Jones spheres and point charges.

To create a carbon atom at [0.1, 0.2, 0.5] fractional coordinates (in the context of some Bravais lattice):

ljs = LJSphere(:C, [0.1, 0.2, 0.5]) # constructor
ljs.species # :C
ljs.xf # [0.1, 0.2, 0.5]

To create a point charge of +1 at [0.1, 0.2, 0.5] fractional coordinates (in the context of some Bravais lattice):

ptc = PtCharge(1.0, [0.1, 0.2, 0.5])
ptc.q # 1.0
ptc.xf # [0.1, 0.2, 0.5]

Bravais lattice

We later apply periodic boundary conditions to mimic a crystal of infinite extent. A Box describes a Bravais lattice.

To make a 10 by 10 by 10 Å Bravais lattice with right angles:

box = Box(10.0, 10.0, 10.0, π/2, π/2, π/2)

box.a, box.b, box.c # unit cell dimensions (10.0 Å)
box.α, box.β, box.γ # unit cell angles (1.57... radians)
box.Ω # volume (1000.0 ų)
box.f_to_c # fractional to Cartesian coordinate transformation matrix
box.c_to_f # Cartesian to fractional coordinate transformation matrix
box.reciprocal_lattice # rows are reciprocal lattice vectors

Replicate a box as follows:

box = replicate(box, (2, 2, 2)) # new box replicated 2 by 2 by 2
box.a # 20 Å

Porous Crystals

using PorousMaterials

# read in xtal structure file
framework = Framework("SBMOF-1.cif")

# access unit cell box
framework.box

# access Lennard-Jones spheres and point charges comprising the crystal
framework.atoms
framework.charges

# remove annoying numbers on the atom labels
strip_numbers_from_atom_labels!(framework)

# compute crystal density
ρ = crystal_density(framework) # kg/m3

# compute the chemical formula
cf = chemical_formula(framework)

# assign charges according to atom type
charges = Dict(:Ca => 3.0, :O => 2.0, :C => -1.0, :S => 7.0, :H => -1.0)
charged_framework = assign_charges(framework, charges)

# replicate & visualize
framework = replicate(framework, (3, 3, 3))
write_to_xyz(framework, "SBMOF-1.xyz")

Lennard-Jones forcefields

# read in Lennard-Jones force field parameters from the Universal Force Field
forcefield = LJForceField("UFF.csv", cutoffradius=14.0, mixing_rules="Lorentz-Berthelot")

# access the Lennard-Jones epsilon & sigma for Xe
forcefield.pure_ϵ[:Xe] # K
forcefield.pure_σ[:Xe] # Å

# access the Lennard-Jones epsilon & sigma for Xe-C interactions
forcefield.ϵ[:Xe][:C] # K                                                                 
forcefield.σ²[:Xe][:C] # Å (store σ² for faster computation)

Molecules

molecule = Molecule("CO2") # fractional coords in terms of unit cube box

# access Lennard-Jones spheres & point charges that comprise molecule
molecule.atoms
molecule.charges

# translate to [1.0, 2.0, 3.0] fractional coordinates
translate_to!(molecule, [1.0, 2.0, 3.0])

# translate by [0.1, 0.0, 0.0] fractional coordinates
translate_by!(molecule, [0.1, 0.0, 0.0])

# conduct a uniform random rotation
rotate!(molecule, UnitCube()) # b/c now fractional coords defined in context of a unit cube

Potential energies

First, set the fractional coordinates of the molecule in the context of some unit cell box.

# molecule in a framework
set_fractional_coords!(molecule, framework.box)

# molecule in a 10 by 10 by 10 cube
box = Box(10.0, 10.0, 10.0, π/2, π/2, π/2) # make a box
set_fractional_coords!(molecule, box)

van der Waals

What is the van der Waals potential energy of a Xe adsorbate inside SBMOF-1 at [0.0, 1.0, 3.0] Cartesian coordinates using the UFF as a molecular model?

using PorousMaterials

framework = Framework("SBMOF-1.cif")

forcefield = LJForceField("UFF.csv")

molecule = Molecule("Xe")
set_fractional_coords!(molecule, framework.box)

translate_to!(molecule, [0.0, 1.0, 0.0], framework.box) # need box b/c we're talking Cartesian

energy = vdw_energy(framework, molecule, forcefield) # K

Electrostatics

What is the electrostatic potential energy of a CO₂ adsorbate inside CAXVII_clean at [0.0, 1.0, 0.0] Cartesian coordinate?

using PorousMaterials

framework = Framework("CAXVII_clean.cif") # has charges

molecule = Molecule("CO2")
set_fractional_coords!(molecule, framework.box)

translate_to!(molecule, [0.0, 1.0, 0.0], framework.box) # need box b/c we're talking Cartesian

rotate!(molecule, framework.box) # let's give it a random orientation

# this is for speed. pre-compute k-vectors and allocate memory
eparams, kvectors, eikar, eikbr, eikcr = setup_Ewald_sum(12.0, framework.box)

energy = electrostatic_potential_energy(framework, molecule, eparams, kvectors, eikar, eikbr, eikcr)

Equations of state

Calculate fugacity, density of methane at 298 K and 65 bar using the Peng-Robinson EOS:

gas = PengRobinsonGas(:CH4)
props = calculate_properties(gas, 298.0, 65.0) # dictionary of properties
props["fugacity coefficient"] # 0.8729

Pass eos=:PengRobinson to gcmc_simulation to automatically convert pressure to fugacity using the Peng-Robinson equation of state.

Input files to describe crystals, molecules, and forcefields

All input files are stored in the path PorousMaterials.PATH_TO_DATA (type into Julia). By default, this path is set to be in the present working directory (type pwd() into Julia) in a folder data/. Go inside PorousMaterials.jl/test/data to see example input files for each case below.

Crystals

Place .cif and .cssr crystal structure files in data/crystals. PorousMaterials.jl currently takes crystals in P1 symmetry only.

Molecules/Adsorbates

Molecule input files are stored in data/molecules. Each molecule possesses its own directory and contains two files: point_charges.csv and lennard_jones_spheres.csv, comma-separated-value files describing the point charges and Lennard Jones spheres, respectively, comprising the molecule. Only rigid molecules are currently supported. Units of length are in Angstrom; units of charges are electrons.

Force field parameters

Lennard-Jones forcefield parameters are stored in comma-separated-value format in data/forcefields/.

Interaction of an adsorbate with the framework is modeled as pair-wise additive and with Lennard-Jones potentials of the form:

V(r) = 4 * epsilon * [ x ^ 12 - x ^ 6 ], where x = sigma / r

The Lennard Jones force field input files, e.g. UFF.csv contain a list of pure (i.e. X-X, where X is an atom) sigmas and epsilons in units Angstrom and Kelvin, respectively. Note that, e.g., in the UFF paper, the Lennard Jones potential is written in a different form and thus parameters need to be converted to correspond to the functional form used in PorousMaterials.jl.

Atomic masses

Add fancy pseudo-atoms to data/atomic_masses.csv.

Peng-Robinson gas parameters

Critical temperatures and pressures and acentric factors are stored in data/PengRobinsonGasProps.csv.

Installation

1. Download and install the Julia programming language, v0.6.4.

2. In Julia, type Pkg.clone("https://github.com/SimonEnsemble/PorousMaterials.jl.git") to clone this repository and install Julia package dependencies in REQUIRE.

3. In Julia, load all functions in PorousMaterials.jl into the namespace:

using PorousMaterials # that's it

Note: This package is in development. After stabilized and fully documented, installation will be as easy as Pkg.add("PorousMaterials").

Tests

Run the unit-ish tests in the script tests/runtests.jl manually or type Pkg.test("PorousMaterials") into Julia.

Direct tests for Henry coefficients and grand-canonical Monte Carlo simulations take much longer and are found in tests/henry_test.jl and tests/gcmc_test.jl.

FAQ

How do I type out the math symbols? e.g. box.α?

Julia supports unicode input! Type box.\alpha, then hit tab. Voilà. There is a vim extension for Julia here.

How do I run as a script in the command line?

It is instructive to first run an example in the Julia REPL so you can print out and interact with attributes of your forcefield, framework, and molecule to ensure they are correct. If you want to then run the Julia code in the command line, simply put the commands in a text file with a .jl extension and run in terminal as julia my_script.jl. For parallelization in adsorption_isotherm and henry_coefficient, call e.g. 4 cores with julia -p 4 my_script.jl.

Can I use PorousMaterials.jl in Jupyter Notebook/ Jupyter Lab?

Yes! See here.

How can I convert my .cif into P1 symmetry for PorousMaterials.jl?

We hope someone will contribute this feature to PorousMaterials.jl eventually. For now, you can use OpenBabel:

obabel -icif non-P1.cif -ocif -O P1.cif --fillUC strict

Help wanted and needed

• the speed of a GCMC or Henry simulation is determined primarily by how fast PorousMaterials.jl can compute the electrostatic and vdw potential energy. Some core functions that can speed up this are:
  • nearest_image!, nearest_r in src/NearestImage.jl
  • Ewald sums in src/Electrostatics.jl. (electrostatics are a huge bottleneck.)
  • src/VdWEnergetics.jl The scripts test/vdw_timing.jl and test/ewald_timing.jl time the functions for benchmarking.
• consolidate eikar, eikbr, eikcr somehow without slowing down the Ewald sum.
• more tests added to tests/runtests.jl, tests/henry_tests.jl, tests/gcmc_tests.jl
• code coverage badge
• how to hook up to Travis CI to automatically run tests upon a pull request?
• geometric-based pore size calculations (largest free and included spheres), surface area, and porosity calculations that take Framework's as input
• handle .cif's without P1 symmetry. i.e. convert any .cif to P1 symmetry
• generate a docs website
• extend gcmc_simulation to handle mixtures
• better default rules for choosing Ewald sum parameters? alpha, kvectors required...
• Henry coefficient code prints off Ewald sum params 5 times if run with one core...
• set good defaults for gcmc_simulation probabilities (as now) but also allow user to change through default arguments to the function
• automatically adjust the translation step δ in gcmc_simulation during burn cycles to have 50% acceptance of translation moves (online gradient descent?)
• EQEq or other charge equilibration schemes for assinging charges, taking a Framework as input.

Contribution guidelines

Please run tests/runtests.jl and assert that the tests run before you submit a pull request. For substantial changes aside from performance optimizations/bug fixes, please check with us before moving forward. And it's best if you post an issue stating your intentions to implement a feature in case someone else already is.

• keep with spacing and naming conventions used throughout the code. only lower case for variables, upper case for types etc.
• always have type assertions in the function arguments
• include doc strings for your functions that are exposed to the user or comments for internal functions
• modularize the code as much as possible by breaking it into small functions
• before you implement a function, check if it already exists; we want to minimize the repeating of code. Less is more!
• ensure your new function has tests added to tests/runtests.jl